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Goniopholidae
Goniopholididae is an extinct family of moderate-sized semi-aquatic neosuchian crocodyliformes. Their bodyplan and morphology are convergent on living crocodilians. They lived across Laurasia (Asia, Europe and North America) between the Middle Jurassic (possibly Early Jurassic, see below) and the Late Cretaceous. Description Compared to modern crocodilians, goniopholidids are very unusual in several respects. They possessed two rows of rectangular, interlocking osteoderms like those of terrestrial crocodilymorphs like atoposaurids, that are relatively simple, do not extend far in their necks, as opposed to the ornate armours of modern crocodilians; likewise, unlike modern crocodilians but like many extinct forms like phytosaurs, they have ventral osteoderms as well. Their forelimbs are also proportionally very long, particularly in the humeri and wrist bones, being as long or longer than the hindlimbs, the opposite of the condition seen in modern crocodilians. Some like ''Anteoph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neosuchian
Neosuchia is a clade within Mesoeucrocodylia that includes all modern extant crocodilians and their closest fossil relatives. It is defined as the most inclusive clade containing all crocodylomorphs more closely related to ''Crocodylus niloticus'' (the Nile Crocodile) than to ''Notosuchus terrestris''. Members of Neosuchia generally share a crocodilian-like bodyform adapted to freshwater aquatic life, as opposed to the terrestrial habits of more basal crocodylomorph groups. The earliest neosuchian is suggested to be the Early Jurassic ''Calsoyasuchus'', which lived during the Sinemurian and Pliensbachian stages in North America. It is often identified as a member of Goniopholididae, though this is disputed, and the taxon may lie outside Neosuchia, which places the earliest records of the group in the Middle Jurassic. Characteristics A tooth notch between the maxilla and premaxilla is a basal characteristic of the Neosuchia, although it is lost in some more derived forms, most nota ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Woodbinesuchus
''Woodbinesuchus'' (meaning "Woodbine Formation crocodile") is an extinct genus of goniopholidid mesoeucrocodylian. Its fossils have been recovered from the Cenomanian-age Upper Cretaceous Woodbine Formation of Texas. Crocodyliform fossils are widespread in the formation. The type specimen of ''Woodbinesuchus'', SMU 74626, came from near the base of the formation in Tarrant County. It was found by Johnny Allen Byers (Ted & Mary's favorite boy) and J. Maurice in May 1990. The specimen includes the lower jaw and a variety of postcranial elements, such as vertebrae, limb bones, shoulder and hip bones, and bony armor. The lower jaw was elongate and slender, with the two halves joined from the tip to the sixteenth teeth, and there was no mandibular fenestra. Yuong–Nam Lee named ''Woodbinesuchus'' in 1997, naming the type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calsoyasuchus
''Calsoyasuchus'' (meaning " r. KyrilCalsoyas' crocodile") is a genus of crocodylomorph that lived in the Early Jurassic. Its fossilized remains were found in the Sinemurian-Pliensbachian-age Kayenta Formation on Navajo Nation land in Coconino County, Arizona, United States. Formally described as ''C. valliceps'', it is known from a single incomplete skull which is unusually derived for such an early crocodile relative. This genus was described in 2002 by Ronald Tykoski and colleagues; the specific name means "valley head" and refers to a deep groove along the midline of the nasal bones and frontal bones. It has often been interpreted as the earliest diverging member of Goniopholididae, but other studies have recovered it in various other positions. Description The holotype skull ( TMM 43631-1) that would be named ''Calsoyasuchus'' was discovered in 1997 by members of an expedition composed of crews from Texas Memorial Museum of the University of Texas at Austin, the Museum of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunosuchus
''Sunosuchus'' is an extinct genus of goniopholidid mesoeucrocodylian. Fossils are known from China, Kyrgyzstan, and Thailand and are Jurassic in age, although some may be Early Cretaceous. Four species are currently assigned to the genus: the type species ''S. miaoi'' and the species ''S. junggarensis'', ''S. shartegensis'', and ''S. shunanensis''. All species are from China. ''Goniopholis phuwiangensis'', also from Thailand, was reassigned to ''Sunosuchus'' by Andrade ''et al.'' (2011). The material from Kyrgyzstan has not been assigned to any species. Description ''Sunosuchus'' has a long, narrow snout and a small skull table. Several characters help diagnose ''Sunosuchus'' and distinguish it from other taxa. For example, there are wide pits on the back of the frontal bone. The frontal bone also has a distinctive ridge along part of its midline. The lower jaw has a long symphysis where the two halves come together. This symphysis is formed mostly from the mandibles, but als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Campanian
The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous Epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campanian spans the time from 83.6 (± 0.2) to 72.1 (± 0.2) million years ago. It is preceded by the Santonian and it is followed by the Maastrichtian. The Campanian was an age when a worldwide sea level rise covered many coastal areas. The morphology of some of these areas has been preserved: it is an unconformity beneath a cover of marine sedimentary rocks. Etymology The Campanian was introduced in scientific literature by Henri Coquand in 1857. It is named after the French village of Champagne in the department of Charente-Maritime. The original type locality was a series of outcrop near the village of Aubeterre-sur-Dronne in the same region. Definition The base of the Campanian Stage is defined as a place in the stratigraphic column wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurasiatheria
Laurasiatheria ("laurasian beasts") is a superorder of placental mammals that groups together true insectivores ( eulipotyphlans), bats ( chiropterans), carnivorans, pangolins ( pholidotes), even-toed ungulates (artiodactyls), odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls), and all their extinct relatives. From systematics and phylogenetic perspectives, it is subdivided into order Eulipotyphla and clade Scrotifera. It is a sister group to Euarchontoglires with which it forms the magnorder Boreoeutheria. Laurasiatheria was discovered on the basis of the similar gene sequences shared by the mammals belonging to it; no anatomical features have yet been found that unite the group. The Laurasiatheria clade is based on DNA sequence analyses and retrotransposon presence/absence data. The superorder originated on the northern supercontinent of Laurasia, after it split from Gondwana when Pangaea broke up. Its last common ancestor is supposed to have diversified ca. 76 to 90 million years ago. Ety ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ambush Predators
Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture or trap prey via stealth, luring or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an element of surprise. Unlike pursuit predators, who chase to capture prey using sheer speed or endurance, ambush predators avoid fatigue by staying in concealment, waiting patiently for the prey to get near, before launching a sudden overwhelming attack that quickly incapacitates and captures the prey. The ambush is often opportunistic, and may be set by hiding in a burrow, by camouflage, by aggressive mimicry, or by the use of a trap (e.g. a web). The predator then uses a combination of senses to detect and assess the prey, and to time the strike. Nocturnal ambush predators such as cats and snakes have vertical slit pupils helping them to judge the distance to prey in dim light. Different ambush predators use a variety of means to capture their prey, from the long sticky tongues of chameleons to the expanding m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phytosaur
Phytosaurs (Φυτόσαυροι in greek) are an extinct group of large, mostly semiaquatic Late Triassic archosauriform reptiles. Phytosaurs belong to the order Phytosauria. Phytosauria and Phytosauridae are often considered to be equivalent groupings containing the same species, but some studies have identified non-phytosaurid phytosaurians. Phytosaurs were long-snouted and heavily armoured, bearing a remarkable resemblance to modern crocodilians in size, appearance, and lifestyle, as an example of convergence or parallel evolution. The name "phytosaur" means "plant reptile", as the first fossils of phytosaurs were mistakenly thought to belong to plant eaters. The name is misleading because the sharp teeth in phytosaur jaws clearly show that they were predators. For many years, phytosaurs were considered to be the most basal group of Pseudosuchia (crocodile-line archosaurs), meaning that they were thought to be more closely related to the crocodilians than to birds (the othe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atoposauridae
Atoposauridae is a Family (biology), family of crocodile-line archosaurs belonging to Neosuchia. The majority of the family are known from Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous marine deposits in France, Portugal, and Bavaria in southern Germany. The discovery of the genus ''Aprosuchus'', however, extends the duration of the lineage to the end of the Cretaceous in Romania. Classification Phylogeny Cladogram modified from Buscalioni and Sanz (1988) and Buscalioni and Sanz (1990): References Late Jurassic crocodylomorphs Taxa named by Paul Gervais Prehistoric reptile families {{paleo-archosaur-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osteoderm
Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates, or other structures based in the dermis. Osteoderms are found in many groups of extant and extinct reptiles and amphibians, including lizards, crocodilians, frogs, temnospondyls (extinct amphibians), various groups of dinosaurs (most notably ankylosaurs and stegosaurians), phytosaurs, aetosaurs, placodonts, and hupehsuchians (marine reptiles with possible ichthyosaur affinities). Osteoderms are uncommon in mammals, although they have occurred in many xenarthrans (armadillos and the extinct glyptodonts and mylodontid and scelidotheriid ground sloths). The heavy, bony osteoderms have evolved independently in many different lineages. The armadillo osteoderm is believed to develop in subcutaneous dermal tissues. These varied structures should be thought of as anatomical analogues, not homologues, and do not necessarily indicate monophyly. The structures are however derived from scutes, common to all classes of amniotes and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurasia
Laurasia () was the more northern of two large landmasses that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from around ( Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the breakup of Pangaea, drifting farther north after the split and finally broke apart with the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean c. 56 Mya. The name is a portmanteau of Laurentia and Asia. Laurentia, Avalonia, Baltica, and a series of smaller terranes, collided in the Caledonian orogeny c. 400 Ma to form Laurussia (also known as Euramerica, or the Old Red Sandstone Continent). Laurussia then collided with Gondwana to form Pangaea. Kazakhstania and Siberia were then added to Pangaea 290–300 Ma to form Laurasia. Laurasia finally became an independent continental mass when Pangaea broke up into Gondwana and Laurasia. Terminology and origin of the concept Laurentia, the Palaeozoic core of North America and continental fragments that now make ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocodilia
Crocodilia (or Crocodylia, both ) is an order of mostly large, predatory, semiaquatic reptiles, known as crocodilians. They first appeared 95 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period ( Cenomanian stage) and are the closest living relatives of birds, as the two groups are the only known survivors of the Archosauria. Members of the order's total group, the clade Pseudosuchia, appeared about 250 million years ago in the Early Triassic period, and diversified during the Mesozoic era. The order Crocodilia includes the true crocodiles (family Crocodylidae), the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae), and the gharial and false gharial (family Gavialidae). Although the term 'crocodiles' is sometimes used to refer to all of these, crocodilians is a less ambiguous vernacular term for members of this group. Large, solidly built, lizard-like reptiles, crocodilians have long flattened snouts, laterally compressed tails, and eyes, ears, and nostrils at the top ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
