Benggwigwishingasuchus, new pseudosuchian Middle Triassic of Nevada (free pdf)

[Ben Creisler]

Ben Creisler

bcre...@gmail.com

A new paper:

Free pdf:

Benggwigwishingasuchus eremicarminis gen. et sp. nov.

Nathan D. Smith, Nicole Klein, P. Martin Sander and Lars Schmitz (2024)
A new pseudosuchian from the Favret Formation of Nevada reveals that archosauriforms occupied coastal regions globally during the Middle Triassic
Biology Letters 20(7): 20240136
doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0136
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0136

Free pdf:
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0136


Recent studies suggest that both stem- and crown-group Archosauria encompassed high ecological diversity during their initial Triassic radiation. We describe a new pseudosuchian archosaur, Benggwigwishingasuchus eremicarminis gen. et sp. nov., from the Anisian (Middle Triassic) Fossil Hill Member of the Favret Formation (Nevada, USA), a pelagic setting in the eastern Panthalassan Ocean characterized by the presence of abundant ammonoids and large-bodied ichthyosaurs. Coupled with archosauriforms from the eastern and western Tethys Ocean, Benggwigwishingasuchus reveals that pseudosuchians were also components of Panthalassan ocean coastal settings, establishing that the group occupied these habitats globally during the Middle Triassic. However, Benggwigwishingasuchus, Qianosuchus, and Ticinosuchus (two other pseudosuchians known from marine sediments) are not recovered in a monophyletic group, demonstrating that a nearshore marine lifestyle occurred widely across Archosauriformes during this time. Benggwigwishingasuchus is recovered as part of an expanded Poposauroidea, including several taxa (e.g. Mandasuchus, Mambawakalae) from the Middle Triassic Manda Beds of Tanzania among its basally branching members. This implies a greater undiscovered diversity of poposauroids during the Early Triassic, and supports that the group, and pseudosuchians more broadly, diversified rapidly following the End-Permian mass extinction.

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[Gregory Paul]

No doubt there will of course be no comment on the genus name on this group;)

GSPaul

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[mkir...@gmail.com]

I see that it is supposed to mean ‘Fisherman Croc's desert song," but at first glance at Benggwigwishingasuchus eremicarminis, it looked like it meant that the pseudosuchian Benggwig was wishing it were a real suchus.  :-)

[Tim Williams]

 'Gregory Paul' wrote:

> No doubt there will of course be no comment on the genus name on this group;)

I think it's a wonderful name.  What's not to like about _Benggwigwishingasuchus_?  Although the name is long, it's not quite as long as _Micropachycephalosaurus_ (but close).

My pet peeve is when people use Greek or Latin words and don't connect them correctly.  But nothing to see here.

[Mickey Mortimer]

I like that it's a word that is very different from any pre-existing word and that it's easily parsable to remember and pronounce in my head- Bengg-wig-wishing-a-suchus, with only the second G needing more memorization.  So it gets an A- for my criteria.

Mickey Mortimer