Gracilineustes Temporal range: Callovian - Kimmeridgian, 167–155 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Fossil skull of G. leedsi, NHMUK PV R5793, at the Field Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauria
Clade:	Pseudosuchia
Clade:	Crocodylomorpha
Suborder:	†Thalattosuchia
Family:	†Metriorhynchidae
Subfamily:	†Metriorhynchinae
Genus:	†Gracilineustes Young et al., 2010
Type species
†Gracilineustes leedsi (Andrews, 1913)[1]
Other species
†G. acutus Lennier, 1887 [2]
Synonyms
Metriorhynchus laeve Andrews, 1913

Gracilineustes is an extinct genus of marine crocodyliform that lived in the oceans during the Middle to Late Jurassic. Gracilineustes was a carnivore that spent much, if not all, its life out at sea. It was a small reptile, with G. leedsi measuring 2.25–3.11 m (7.4–10.2 ft) long and G. acutus measuring 3.77 m (12.4 ft) long.^[3]

Discovery and species

Fossil specimens referrable to Gracilineustes are known from Middle-Late Jurassic deposits of England and France.^[4]

Classification

Gracilineustes is an early member of the metriorhynchid subfamily Metriorhynchinae. The cladogram below is from an analysis by Mark Young and colleagues in 2020.^[5]

References

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