Neustosaurus

History of discovery

There is only a single described species within Neustosaurus, the type species N. gigondarum. The holotype material consists of only the posterior of trunk and the tail, discovered in France, in Gigondas. However, identifying metriorhynchid genera from post-cranials is not easy, as such until diagnostic material is discovered Neustosaurus is considered nomen dubium. Neustosaurus has been considered a junior synonym of either Dakosaurus and Geosaurus over the past 100 years. In 2009, Young and Andrade published a re-description of Geosaurus, examining its relationships and the validity of species lumped into the genus. They concluded that Neustosaurus is a nomen dubium, but if new material was discovered it would be the senior synonym of Cricosaurus.