{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = Late Jurassic, {{Fossil range|Callovian}} | image = Lemmysuchus obtusidens.png | image_caption = Holotype skull in multiple views | display_parents = 3 | genus = Lemmysuchus | parent_authority = Johnson ''et al.'', 2017 | species = obtusidens | authority = Andrews, 1909 | synonyms = *''"Steneosaurus" obtusidens'' <small>Andrews, 1909</small> }}
'''''Lemmysuchus''''' is a genus of machimosaurid thalattosuchian from the Middle Jurassic Callovian of England and France. Like many other teleosauroids from Europe, it has had a convoluted taxonomic history.
==History== [[File:A descriptive catalogue of the marine reptiles of the Oxford clay. Based on the Leeds Collection in the British Museum (Natural History), London (1910) (20252762483).jpg|upright|thumb|left|Skull and other elements of the holotype specimen]] ''"Steneosaurus" obtusidens'' was first described from the Callovian-aged Oxford Clay Formation of Cambridgeshire, southeastern England on the basis of a partial skeleton (NHMUK PV R 3168).<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Andrews | first1 = C.W. | year = 1909 | title = On some new Steneosaurs from the Oxford Clay of Peterborough | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1430055| journal = Annals and Magazine of Natural History | volume = 3 | issue = 15| pages = 299–308 | doi = 10.1080/00222930908692579 }}</ref> Characters cited as diagnostic for ''"S." obtusidens'' included: short rostrum (preorbital length 52 percent of total skull length); teeth blunt and rounded at the tips; armor adorned with elongate pit ornamentation.
The validity of ''"Steneosaurus" obtusidens'' was disputed in a 1987 paper reviewing the type specimens of nominal teleosauroid species from the Oxford Clay. Characters used by Charles William Andrews to distinguish ''"S." obtusidens'' from other species were dismissed as variable within specimens of ''Steneosaurus edwardsi'', and ''"S." obtusidens'' was sunk as a junior synonym of ''Steneosaurus durobrivensis'' (=''S. edwardsi'').<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Adams-Tresman | first1 = S. M. | year = 1987 | title = The Callovian (Middle Jurassic) teleosaurid marine crocodiles from central England | journal = Palaeontology | volume = 30 | issue = 1| pages = 195–206 }}</ref> Some authors considered this taxon a probable junior synonym of ''Machimosaurus hughii'' based on a subsequently discovered specimen found in Callovian-age exposures in Calvados, Lower Normandy, France, though they stressed that a taxonomic review of blunt-snouted teleosaurids was needed.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Hua | first1 = Vignaud | last2 = Pennetier | last3 = Pennetier | year = 1994 | title = Un squelette de Steneosaurus obtusidens Andrews, 1909 dans le Callovien de Villers-sur-mer(Calvados, France)et le problème de la definition des Teleosauridae à dents obtuses | journal = Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série II | volume = 318 | pages = 1557–1562 }}</ref><ref>Hua, S., 1999, Le Crocodilien Machimosaurus mosae (Thalattosuchia, Teleosauridae) du Kimmeridgien du Boulonnais (Pas de Calais, France): Palaeontographica Abt. A., v. 252, Lfg. 4-6, p. 141-170.</ref> This synonymy was accepted in a 2009 paper regarding thalattosuchian morphometrics without comment.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Pierce | first1 = S. E. | last2 = Angielczyk | first2 = K. D. | last3 = Rayfield | first3 = E. J. | year = 2009 | title = Morphospace occupation in thalattosuchian crocodylomorphs: skull shape variation, species delineation and temporal patterns | url = http://doc.rero.ch/record/208682/files/PAL_E3951.pdf| journal = Palaeontology | volume = 52 | issue = 5| pages = 1057–1097 | doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2009.00904.x| doi-access = free }}</ref>
In 2013, a new specimen of ''Machimosaurus'' was described from Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian deposits in southern Germany (later named ''Machimosaurus buffetauti''), and it became clear that variation within blunt-toothed teleosauroids was taxonomically significant enough for ''"Steneosaurus" obtusidens'' to be recognized as generically distinct from ''Machimosaurus''.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Martin | first1 = J. E. | last2 = Vincent | first2 = P. | year = 2013 | title = New remains of Machimosaurus hugii von Meyer, 1837 (Crocodilia, Thalattosuchia) from the Kimmeridgian of Germany | journal = Fossil Record | volume = 16 | issue = 2| pages = 179–196 | doi = 10.1002/mmng.201300009 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Other cladistic and comparative studies agreed with this assessment, recovering ''"S." obtusidens'' in a clade with ''Machimosaurus'' and ''Steneosaurus edwardsi''.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Mueller-Töwe | first1 = IJ | year = 2005 | title = Phylogenetic relationships of the Thalattosuchia | journal = Zitteliana | volume = 45 | pages = 211–213 }}</ref><ref>{{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. | year = 2012 | title = Butler, Richard J, ed. "The Cranial Osteology and Feeding Ecology of the Metriorhynchid Crocodylomorph Genera Dakosaurus and Plesiosuchus from the Late Jurassic of Europe | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 7 | issue = 9| article-number = e44985 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0044985 | pmid = 23028723 | pmc=3445579| doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Young | first1 = M. T. | last2 = Hua | first2 = S. | last3 = Steel | first3 = L. | last4 = Foffa | first4 = D. | last5 = Brusatte | first5 = S. L. | last6 = Thüring | first6 = S. | last7 = Mateus | first7 = O. | last8 = Ignacio-Ruiz Omeñaca | first8 = J. | last9 = Lepage | first9 = Y. | last10 = Havilk | first10 = P. | last11 = Andrade | first11 = M. B. | year = 2014 | title = Revision of the Late Jurassic teleosaurid genus Machimosaurus (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) | doi = 10.1098/rsos.140222 | doi-access = free| pmid = 26064545 | journal = Royal Society Open Science | volume = 1 | issue = 140222| pages = 1–42 | pmc = 4448888 | bibcode = 2014RSOS....140222Y }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Johnson | first1 = MM | last2 = Young | first2 = MT | last3 = Steel | first3 = L | last4 = Foffa | first4 = D | last5 = Smith | first5 = AS | last6 = Hua | first6 = S | last7 = Havlik | first7 = P | last8 = Howlett | first8 = EA | last9 = Dyke | first9 = G | year = 2018| title = Re-description of 'Steneosaurus' obustidens Andrews, 1909, an unusual macrophagous teleosaurid crocodylomorph from the Middle Jurassic of England | url = https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:33af66b8-1605-4609-bf91-0872cf893b07| journal = Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society | volume = 182| issue = 2| pages = 385–418 | doi = 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx035 }}</ref>
In 2017, the species was moved to its own genus, ''Lemmysuchus'', referring to Ian Fraser Kilmister, better known as "Lemmy", of the band Motörhead,<ref>"Scaly snuggle-toothed beast? That'll be Lemmy" > Daily Telegraph Issue no 50,455 dated Wednesday 9 August 2017</ref> and the Greek word for crocodile, {{Transliteration|grc|soukhos}}.<ref name="Lemmysuchus">{{cite journal|last1=Johnson|first1=Michela M.|last2=Young|first2=Mark T.|last3=Steel|first3=Lorna|last4=Foffa|first4=Davide|last5=Smith|first5=Adam S.|last6=Hua|first6=StÉphane|last7=Havlik|first7=Philipe|last8=Howlett|first8=Eliza A.|last9=Dyke|first9=Gareth|title=Re-description of 'Steneosaurus' obtusidens Andrews, 1909, an unusual macrophagous teleosaurid crocodylomorph from the Middle Jurassic of England|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=182|issue=2|pages=385–418|date=2017|doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx035|url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:33af66b8-1605-4609-bf91-0872cf893b07}}</ref>
==Classification==
''Lemmysuchus'' is a member of the derived group of machimosaurids called Machimosaurini, which includes the largest and most robust members. It is closely related to other large machimosaurids such as ''Yvridiosuchus'' and ''Machimosaurus''.
The cladogram below is from an analysis conducted by Johnson and colleagues in 2020.<ref name="Teleosauroidea">{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Michela M. |last2=Young |first2=Mark T. |last3=Brusatte |first3=Stephen L. |title=The phylogenetics of Teleosauroidea (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) and implications for their ecology and evolution |journal=PeerJ |date=2020 |volume=8 |article-number=e9808 |doi=10.7717/peerj.9808|pmid=33083104 |pmc=7548081 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
{{Clade|{{clade |1=''Macrospondylus bollensis'' |2={{clade |1=''Clovesuurdameredeor stephani'' |2={{clade |1=''Charitomenosuchus leedsi'' |2={{clade |1=''Seldsienean megistorhynchus'' |2={{clade |1=''Deslongchampsina larteti'' |label2=Machimosaurinae |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=''Proexochokefalos hebertii'' |2=cf. ''Proexochokefalos bouchardi''}} |2={{clade |1=''Neosteneosaurus edwardsi'' |2=''Andrianavoay baroni'' |label3=Machimosaurini |3={{clade |1='''''Lemmysuchus obtusidens''''' |2=''Yvridiosuchus boutilieri'' |3={{clade |1=''Machimosaurus buffetauti'' |2={{clade |1=''Machimosaurus mosae'' |2={{clade |1=''Machimosaurus rex'' |2=''Machimosaurus hugii''}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}|label1=Machimosauridae}}
==Ecology==
''Lemmysuchus'' lived during a time when much of Europe was covered by shallow seas and was an island archipelago. It had very large muscle attachment sites and robust jaws, meaning it had a powerful bite. Coupled with its straight and blunt dentition, ''Lemmysuchus'' was well adapted for feeding on large and armored prey items such as turtles and large fish.<ref name=eco>{{Cite journal|last1=Johnson|first1=M. M.|last2=Foffa|first2= D.|last3=Young|first3=M. T.|last4=Brusatte|first4=S. L.|year=2022|title=The ecological diversification and evolution of Teleosauroidea (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia), with insights into their mandibular biomechanics|journal=Ecology and Evolution|volume=12|issue=11 |article-number=e9484 |doi=10.1002/ece3.9484|doi-access=free|pmid=36415878 |bibcode=2022EcoEv..12E9484J |hdl=20.500.11820/07ef2706-2019-40ec-add6-6eb522f6f193|hdl-access=free|pmc=9674474}}</ref>
''Lemmysuchus'' is estimated to have a body length of roughly 5.8 meters (19 feet) based on known remains.<ref name="Lemmysuchus"/>
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== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Thalattosuchia}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q18926257}}
Category:Fossil taxa described in 2017 Category:Middle Jurassic crocodylomorphs Category:Middle Jurassic reptiles of Europe Category:Fossils of France Category:Fossils of Great Britain Category:Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera