{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Late Jurassic, {{fossil_range|160|157.3}} | image = | image_caption = | taxon = Aggiosaurus | authority = Ambayrac, 1913 | type_species = {{extinct}}'''''Aggiosaurus nicaeensis''''' | type_species_authority = Ambayrac, 1913 | synonyms = *''Megalosaurus nicaeensis'' <small>(Ambayrac, 1913)</small> *''Dakosaurus nicaeensis'' <small>(Ambayrac, 1913)</small> }}
'''''Aggiosaurus''''' is an extinct genus of geosaurine metriorhynchid crocodyliform known from the Late Jurassic (late Oxfordian stage) of Nice, southeastern France. It contains a single species, '''''Aggiosaurus nicaeensis''''',<ref name=MTY&MBdA09>{{Cite journal | last1 = Young | first1 = M. T. | last2 = De Andrade | first2 = M. B. | doi = 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00536.x | title = What is ''Geosaurus''? Redescription of ''Geosaurus giganteus'' (Thalattosuchia: Metriorhynchidae) from the Upper Jurassic of Bayern, Germany | journal = Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society | volume = 157 | issue = 3 | page = 551 | year = 2009 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name=Youngetal12>{{Cite journal | last1 = Young | first1 = M. T. | last2 = Brusatte | first2 = S. L. | last3 = De Andrade | first3 = M. B. | last4 = Desojo | first4 = J. B. | last5 = Beatty | first5 = B. L. | last6 = Steel | first6 = L. | last7 = Fernández | first7 = M. S. | last8 = Sakamoto | first8 = M. | last9 = Ruiz-Omeñaca | first9 = J. I. | last10 = Schoch | first10 = R. R. | editor1-last = Butler | editor1-first = Richard J | title = The Cranial Osteology and Feeding Ecology of the Metriorhynchid Crocodylomorph Genera ''Dakosaurus'' and ''Plesiosuchus'' from the Late Jurassic of Europe | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0044985 | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 7 | issue = 9 | article-number = e44985 | year = 2012 | pmid = 23028723| pmc =3445579 | bibcode = 2012PLoSO...744985Y | doi-access = free }}</ref> which was named by H. Ambayrac in 1913.<ref name=Ambayarac1913>H. Ambayrac. (1913). Découverte d'une mâchoire de reptile jurassique [Discovery of a jaw from a Jurassic reptile]. ''Bulletin Mensuel des Naturalistes des Alpes-Maritimes'' 15:65-68</ref>
==History of discovery== ''Aggiosaurus'' is known only from its holotype, an unnumbered, poorly preserved upper jaw collected by H. Ambayrac in 1912,<ref name=Maury1915> Maury, E. (1915). New observations on the Jurassic reptile localities on the road from Cap d'Ail to La Turbie. ''Riviera Scientifique. Bulletin de l'Association des Naturalistes de Nice et des Alpes-Maritimes'' 2(1):4-6</ref> preserved in limestone which is now housed in the Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Nice. It was collected from the late Oxfordian-aged locality of Cap d'Aggio-La Turbie, in Nice, France.<ref name=Maury1915 /> It was initially described as a megalosaurid dinosaur by Ambayrac (1913).<ref name=Ambayarac1913 /> Later, Buffetaut (1982) demonstrated that it was in fact a metriorhynchid, closely related to, if not a member of ''Dakosaurus''.<ref name="Buffetaut, 1982">Buffetaut E. (1982). ''Aggiosaurus nicaeensis'' Ambayrac, 1913, from the Upper Jurassic of south-eastern France: A marine crocodilian, not a dinosaur. ''Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte'' (8): 469-475.</ref> As the type specimen is poorly preserved it is sometimes considered to be a nomen dubium. Young & Andrade (2009) suggested that ''Aggiosaurus'' is a junior synonym of ''Dakosaurus'', and that ''A. nicaeensis'' is referrable to ''Dakosaurus'' as a distinct species provisionally. They based this referral on its unusually large dentition (apicobasal length in excess of {{convert|6|cm|in|1|disp=or}}) that thought to be unique to species of ''Dakosaurus'' among all other thalattosuchians.<ref name=MTY&MBdA09/> ''Aggiosaurus'' actually has the largest dentition of any known metriorhynchid (up to {{convert|12|cm|in|1|abbr=on}} in apicobasal length), although further phylogenetic analyses found that large robust teeth present also in other geosaurins, such as ''Torvoneustes''. Young ''et al.'' (2012) resurrected the genus name ''Plesiosuchus'' for ''D. manselii'' (which also present this trait) as their phylogenetic analysis found a paraphyletic ''Dakosaurus'' and suggested more basal position for it within Geosaurini than previously thought. As the presence of unusually large dentition (apicobasal length in excess of {{convert|6|cm|in|1|abbr=on}}) was considered to be homoplastic among geosaurins, ''Aggiosaurus'' cannot be considered a junior synonym of either ''Dakosaurus'' or ''Plesiosuchus''.<ref name=Youngetal12/>
==Etymology== ''Aggiosaurus'' was first described and named by H. Ambayrac in 1913,<ref name=Ambayarac1913 /> and the type species is ''Aggiosaurus nicaeensis''. The generic name is derived from the name of its type locality, Cap d'Aggio-La Turbie, and from "''{{lang|grc-Latn|sauros}}"'' ({{lang|grc|σαῦρος}}), meaning "lizard" in Ancient Greek. The specific name honors Nice, France, in which it was discovered.<ref name=MTY&MBdA09/>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Portal|Paleontology}}
{{Thalattosuchia}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q2711540}}
Category:Fossils of France Category:Fossil taxa described in 1913 Category:Late Jurassic crocodylomorphs Category:Prehistoric marine crocodylomorphs Category:Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera