''Hamadasuchus'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

sebecia Sebecia is an extinct clade of mesoeucrocodylian crocodyliforms that includes peirosaurids and sebecids. It was first constructed in 2007 to include ''Hamadasuchus'', Peirosauridae, and ''Sebecus''. It was initially considered to be the sister ta ...

crocodylomorph 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, cro ...

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s have been found from the

Kem Kem Formation The Kem Kem Group (commonly known as the Kem Kem beds) is a geological group in the Kem Kem region of eastern Morocco, whose strata date back to the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. Its strata are subdivided into two geological formations, ...

outcropping in southeastern

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. These beds date back to the

Albian The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous Epoch/Series. Its approximate time range is 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 100.5 ± 0.9 M ...

and

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the s ...

stages of the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

. It was first assigned to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Trematochampsidae Trematochampsidae is an extinct family of mesoeucrocodylian crocodylomorphs. Fossils are present from Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Argentina, and Brazil (in the case of '' Caririsuchus'', where some specimens have been found in the Romualdo Memb ...

. Diagnostic features of the genus include its lateromedially compressed and serrated teeth. It was deep-snouted and had a slightly heterodont dentition with three distinct tooth morphologies present from sections of the lower jaw.Larsson, H. C. E. and Sidor, C. A. (1999). Unusual crocodyliform teeth from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of southeastern Morocco. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 19(2):398-401.

References

External links

''Hamadasuchus''
in the

Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ...

Late Cretaceous crocodylomorphs of Africa Terrestrial crocodylomorphs Peirosaurids Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera Cretaceous Morocco Fossil taxa described in 1994 {{paleo-archosaur-stub