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Eusuchia
Eusuchia is a clade of crocodylomorphs that first appeared in the Early Cretaceous with ''Hylaeochampsa''. Along with Dyrosauridae and Sebecosuchia, they were the only crocodyliformes who survived the K-T extinction. Since the other two clades died out 47 and 11 million years ago respectively, all living crocodilian species are eusuchians, as are many extinct forms. Definition Eusuchia was originally defined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1875 as an apomorphy-based group, meaning that it was defined by shared characteristics rather than relations. These characteristics include pterygoid-bounded choanae and vertebrae which are procoelous (concave from the front and convex from the back). The possibility that these traits may have been convergently evolved in different groups of neosuchians rather than one lineage spurred some modern paleontologists to revise the group's definition to make it defined solely by relations. In 1999, Christopher Brochu redefined Eusuchia as "the last common ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allodaposuchidae
Allodaposuchidae is an extinct clade of eusuchians that lived in Europe during the Late Cretaceous (Santonian-Maastrichtian). Systematics The type genus, ''Allodaposuchus'', was originally described in 1928 by Nopcsa from the Maastrichtian-age Sard Formation of the Hațeg Basin in Transylvania, Romania, and classified as a relative of the North American ''Leidyosuchus''. It was later classified as a eusuchian outside of Crocodylia in a 2001 paper, and subsequent studies found a number of European eusuchian species ('' Arenysuchus'', '' Ischyrochampsa'', '' Massaliasuchus'', ''Musturzabalsuchus'') to group with ''Allodaposuchus'', prompting the erection of the clade Allodaposuchidae to accommodate ''Allodaposuchus'' and all European eusuchians closely related to it. Narváez ''et al.'' cladistically defined Allodaposuchidae in 2015 as '' Allodaposuchus precedens'' and all crocodyliforms more closely related to it than to ''Hylaeochampsa vectiana'', '' Shamosuchus djadochtaensis' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Borealosuchus
''Borealosuchus'' (meaning "boreal crocodile") is an extinct genus of crocodyliforms that lived from the Late Cretaceous to the Eocene in North America. It was named by Chris Brochu in 1997 for several species that had been assigned to ''Leidyosuchus''. The species assigned to it are: ''B. sternbergii'', the type species, from the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming; ''B. acutidentatus'', from the Paleocene of Saskatchewan; ''B. formidabilis'', from the Paleocene of North Dakota; ''B. griffithi'', from the Paleocene of Alberta; and ''B. wilsoni'', from the Eocene of Wyoming. ''B. formidabilis'' is particularly well-known, represented by the remains of many individuals from the Wannagan Creek site in North Dakota. ''Borealosuchus'' was a mid-sized crocodyliform; ''B. acutidentatus'' reached up to in length with a skull. Taxonomy Six species of ''Borealosuchus'' are currently recognized. In order of their naming, they ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confractosuchus
''Confractosuchus'' is a genus of extinct eusuchian crocodyliform from the Cretaceous Winton Formation of Australia. Described as a macro-generalist, ''Confractosuchus'' was found with the bones of a juvenile ornithopod dinosaur in its abdomen. It currently contains a single species, ''Confractosuchus sauroktonos,'' which literally means "broken dinosaur killer." The discovery of ''Confractosuchus'' was announced by the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum on 11 February 2022, and was published in the journal ''Gondwana Research ''Gondwana Research'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal with an "all earth science" scope and an emphasis on the origin and evolution of continents. It is part of the Elsevier Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializin ...''. It is the second extinct eusuchian crocodyliform genus discovered from the Winton Formation, after '' Isisfordia'' that was discovered during the mid-1990s and named in 2006.'' Discovery and naming ''Conf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocodylomorpha
Crocodylomorpha is a group of pseudosuchian archosaurs that includes the crocodilians and their extinct relatives. They were the only members of Pseudosuchia to survive the end-Triassic extinction. During Mesozoic and early Cenozoic times, crocodylomorphs were far more diverse than they are now. Triassic forms were small, lightly built, active terrestrial animals. The earliest and most primitive crocodylomorphs are represented by " sphenosuchians", a paraphyletic assemblage containing small-bodied forms with elongated limbs that walked upright, which represents the ancestral morphology of Crocodylomorpha. These forms persisted until the end of the Jurassic. During the Jurassic, Crocodylomorphs morphologically diversified into numerous niches, including into the aquatic and marine realms. Evolutionary history When their extinct species and stem group are examined, the crocodylian lineage (clade Pseudosuchia, formerly Crurotarsi) proves to have been a very diverse and adaptive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aegyptosuchidae
Aegyptosuchidae is an extinct family of eusuchian crocodyliforms from the Cretaceous period of Africa. They are characterized by their large size and flat heads. The family includes two genera, '' Aegyptosuchus'' and '' Aegisuchus''. Aegyptosuchidae was originally established as the monotypic family name for '' Aegyptosuchus peyeri'' in 1933. Upon the discovery of the fellow aegyptosuchid '' Aegisuchus witmeri'' in 2012 by Holliday and Gardner, Aegyptosuchidae was phylogenetically defined as the least inclusive clade containing ''Aegisuchus witmeri'' and ''Aegyptosuchus peyeri'', so long as it does not include ''Alligator mississippiensis'' (American alligator), ''Bernissartia fagesii'', ''Crocodylus niloticus'' (Nile crocodile), ''Gavialis gangeticus'' (gharial), ''Hylaeochampsa vectiana'', or '' Susisuchus anatoceps''. Aegyptosuchidae belongs to the clade Eusuchia, and is proposed to be the sister clade to the crown group Crocodylia, which contains all extant (living) crocodili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planocraniidae
Planocraniidae is an extinct family (biology), family of eusuchian crocodyliforms known from the Paleogene of Asia, Europe and North America. The family was coined by Li in 1976, and contains three genera, ''Boverisuchus'', ''Duerosuchus'' and ''Planocrania''. Planocraniids were highly specialized crocodyliforms that were adapted to living on land. They had extensive body armor, long legs, and blunt claws resembling hooves, and are sometimes informally called "hoofed crocodiles". Classification Prior to 2013, the term Pristichampsidae/Pristichampsinae was used for this group. However, the type specimen of ''Pristichampsus'' was found to be undiagnostic, and considered to be a ''nomen dubium''. As such, Brochu (2013) transferred the other species placed in ''Pristichampsus'' to ''Boverisuchus'', and resurrected Planocraniidae to replace Pristichampsidae/Pristichampsinae as the name for the clade. Brochu cladistically defined Planocraniidae as ''Planocrania hengdongensis'' and croco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocodylia
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 of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portugalosuchus
''Portugalosuchus'' (meaning "crocodile from Portugal") is an extinct genus of eusuchian crocodyliform that was possibly a basal crocodylian – if so then it would be the oldest known crocodylian to date. The type species is ''P. azenhae'', described in 2018, and it is known from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)-aged Tentugal Formation in Portugal. A 2021 morphological study recovered ''Portugalosuchus'' within Crocodylia as a member of Gavialidae closely related to similar "thoracosaurs" (e.g. ''Thoracosaurus''), while also noting that is might also possibly be outside of Crocodylia completely. A 2022 tip dating analysis incorporating both morphological and DNA data placed ''Portugalosuchus'' outside of Crocodylia, as the sister taxon of the family Allodaposuchidae. A cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree becaus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eothoracosaurus
''Eothoracosaurus'' is an extinct monospecific genus of eusuchian Crocodylomorpha, crocodylomorphs found in Eastern United States which existed during the Late Cretaceous period. ''Eothoracosaurus'' is considered to belong to an informally named clade called the "thoracosaurs", named after the closely related ''Thoracosaurus''. Thoracosaurs in general were traditionally thought to be related to the modern false gharial, largely because the nasal bones contact the premaxillae, but phylogenetic work starting in the 1990s instead supported affinities within Gavialoidea, gavialoid exclusive of such forms. Even more recent phylogenetic studies suggest that thoracosaurs might instead be non-crocodilian eusuchians. Discovery and naming Fossils are known from the Ripley Formation in Mississippi and date back to the early Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous. Some fragmentary material from the Coon Creek Formation of western Tennessee dating back to the late Campanian (slightly olde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acynodon
''Acynodon'' is an extinct genus of eusuchian crocodylomorph from the Late Cretaceous, with fossils found throughout Southern Europe. Classification The genus ''Acynodon'' contains three species: ''A. iberoccitanus'', ''A. adriaticus'', and ''A. lopezi''. Fossils have been found in France, Spain, Italy, and Romania, dating back to the Santonian and Maastrichtian periods of the Late Cretaceous. When first described in 1997, it was placed within the family Alligatoridae. New findings a decade later led to it being reclassified as a basal globidontan. Recent studies have since resolved ''Acynodon'' as a basal eusuchian crocodylomorph, outside of the Crocodylia crown group, and a close relative to ''Hylaeochampsa''. Description The skull of ''Acynodon'' is extremely brevirostrine; it had a very short and broad snout compared to other known alligatorids. Its dentition was quite derived, with enlarged molariform teeth and a lack of maxillary and dentary In anatomy, the mandible ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hylaeochampsidae
Hylaeochampsidae is an extinct family (biology), family of basal (phylogenetics), basal eusuchian Crocodylomorpha, crocodylomorphs thought to be closely related to the order Crocodylia. Classification Hylaeochampsidae was first constructed by Charles William Andrews in 1913 to include just one member: ''Hylaeochampsa''. However, a new genus named ''Iharkutosuchus'' was described in 2007 and was found to be a sister taxon of ''Hylaeochampsa'', and thus a member of the family Hylaeochampsidae. The genus ''Heterosuchus'', named in 1887, may also be a member of the family. However, it is likely to be synonym (taxonomy), synonymous with ''Hylaeochampsa'' and has been considered a ''nomen dubium'' by James M. Clark and Mark Norell. Clark and Norell also claimed that there is no evidence to suggest that the two genera form a true clade distinct from other eusuchians, because remains associated with ''Heterosuchus'' are to fragmentary to show any clear phylogenetic relationship. A fourth ... [...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] |
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