Teleidosaurus
Encyclopedia
Teleidosaurus is an extinct genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of carnivorous metriorhynchoid crocodyliform from Middle Jurassic
Middle Jurassic
The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from 176-161 million years ago. In European lithostratigraphy, rocks of this Middle Jurassic age are called the Dogger....

 (late Bajocian
Bajocian
In the geologic timescale, the Bajocian is an age or stage in the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 171.6 Ma to around 167.7 Ma . The Bajocian age succeeds the Aalenian age and precedes the Bathonian age....

 to early Bathonian
Bathonian
In the geologic timescale the Bathonian is an age or stage of the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 167.7 Ma to around 164.7 Ma...

 stage) deposits of Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. The name Teleidosaurus means "Complete lizard", and is derived from the Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

 Teleidos- ("complete") and -sauros ("lizard").

Species

The only species within Teleidosaurus is the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 T. calvadosii. Both T. bathonicus and T. gaudryi where referred to Eoneustes
Eoneustes
Eoneustes is an extinct genus of metriorhynchoid crocodyliform from Middle Jurassic deposits of France. Eoneustes was a carnivore that lived in the oceans and spent much, if not all, its life out at sea.-Discovery and species:*E. bathonicus: Western Europe of the Middle Jurassic...

. All species are from Calvados
Calvados
The French department of Calvados is part of the region of Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the English Channel coast...

, Normandy of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. Recent phylogenetic analyses do not support the monophyly
Monophyly
In common cladistic usage, a monophyletic group is a taxon which forms a clade, meaning that it contains all the descendants of the possibly hypothetical closest common ancestor of the members of the group. The term is synonymous with the uncommon term holophyly...

 of Teleidosaurus.

The type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 was named Teleosaurus Calvadosii [Sic] by Jacques Amand Eudes-Deslongchamps
Jacques Amand Eudes-Deslongchamps
Jacques Amand Eudes-Deslongchamps was a French naturalist and palaeontologist.He was born at Caen in Normandy...

 in 1866; however, it was his son, Eugène Eudes-Deslongchamps who erected the generic name Teleidosaurus later in 1869 for Teleosaurus calvadosii. Teleidosaurus joberti is a junior synonym of T. calvadosii. T. calvadosii is known from the plastotype NHM R.2681, a complete skull
Skull
The skull is a bony structure in the head of many animals that supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.The skull is composed of two parts: the cranium and the mandible. A skull without a mandible is only a cranium. Animals that have skulls are called craniates...

 and mandible
Mandible
The mandible pronunciation or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place...

 and from NHM 32612, the plastotype of T. joberti, fragmentary right mandible. The holotype
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 lost during the Second World War.
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