Francosuchus latus, ' KUHN, 1933

Butler, Richard J., Rauhut, Oliver W. M., Stocker, Michelle R. & Bronowicz, Robert, 2014, Redescription of the phytosaurs Paleorhinus (‘ Francosuchus’) angustifrons and Ebrachosuchus neukami from Germany, with implications for Late Triassic biochronology, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 170 (1), pp. 155-208 : 162

‘ FRANCOSUCHUS LATUS ’ KUHN, 1933

[NOMEN DUBIUM]

‘ Francosuchus latus nov. spec. ’; Kuhn, 1933: 97, 127, fig. 5 ‘ Francosuchus latus ’; Kuhn, 1936: 69 ‘ Francosuchus latus Kuhn’; Kuhn, 1938: 318 ‘ P. broilii ( Kuhn, 1933) ’; Gregory, 1962: 670 ‘ P. (F.) latus O. Kuhn, 1933 ’; Westphal, 1976: 109 ‘ Francosuchus latus Kuhn, 1932 ’; Hunt & Lucas, 1991: 489 ‘ Paleorhinus sp. ’; Long & Murry 1995: 36

Holotype: BSPG lost specimen, skull missing the rostrum, missing and presumed destroyed in World War II ( Kuhn, 1933: fig. 5: Fig. 2C ).

Locality and horizon: Bed 13 of Kuhn (1933, 1936), Ebrach quarry.

Comments: The holotype consisted of a partial skull lacking the rostrum. Unfortunately the only available figure of the skull ( Kuhn, 1933: fig. 5; Fig. 2C ), showing the specimen in dorsal view, is very indistinct and does not allow a detailed assessment of morphology or the recognition of autapomorphic characters, although it does indicate a phytosaur skull broadly similar in morphology to the holotype of ‘ F. broilii ’, the holotype of ‘ F.’ angustifrons (see below), as well as to other non-phytosaurid phytosaurs such as Parasuchus and Paleorhinus ( Chatterjee, 1978; Stocker, 2010). Moreover, the description of the specimen by Kuhn (1933: 127–129) does not clearly distinguish diagnostic features. As a result, we consider ‘ F. latus ’ a nomen dubium referable to Phytosauria .

Figures

Figure 2. Historical photographs and drawings of lost phytosaur specimens from Ebrach. A, B, D, photographs (A, B) and drawing (D) of the holotype of Francosuchus broilii (from Kuhn, 1933). C, photograph of the holotype of Francosuchus latus (from Kuhn, 1933). Both specimens were destroyed during World War II. No scale bars were provided with the original illustrations, so scale bars are based upon the table of measurements provided by Kuhn (1933).