Case 3868 – Cricosaurus Wagner, 1858 (Reptilia, Crocodylomorpha, Metriorhynchidae): proposed conservation of usage by designation of Stenosaurus elegans Wagner, 1852 as the type species

Abstract

The purpose of this application, under Articles 70.2 and 81.1 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, is to change the type species of Cricosaurus Wagner, 1858 (Reptilia, Crocodylomorpha, Metriorhynchidae) to prevent nomenclatural instability. Wagner did not specify a type species when establishing Cricosaurus, and Stenosaurus elegans Wagner, 1852 was subsequently designated as the type species by Young & Andrade in 2009 using Art. 69.1. However, Young & Andrade overlooked that Kuhn, in 1968, had stated that Cricosaurus grandis was the type species, thus validly designating it as such in accordance with Art. 69.1.1. Cricosaurus has become widely used in the literature for a cosmopolitan group of marine crocodylomorphs containing 9–11 valid species that lived in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, and Cricosaurus grandis is considered to belong to a different genus, Geosaurus Cuvier, 1824. If C. grandis were to be retained as the type species of Cricosaurus, that genus would become a junior subjective synonym of Geosaurus and a new genus would have to be established for the species currently in Cricosaurus. Retaining Stenosaurus elegans as the type species will ensure nomenclatural stability.