Stomatosuchidae is an extinct

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 ...

neosuchia 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' ...

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 ...

s. It is defined as the most inclusive

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

containing '' Stomatosuchus inermis'' but not ''

Notosuchus terrestris ''Notosuchus'' (; 'southern crocodile') is an extinct genus of South American notosuchian crocodylomorph. It was terrestrial, living approximately 85 million years ago in the Santonian stage of the Late Cretaceous. Description ''Notosuchus'' wa ...

'', '' Simosuchus clarki'', '' Araripesuchus gomesii'', ''

Baurusuchus pachecoi ''Baurusuchus'' is an extinct member of the ancestral crocodilian lineage, which lived in Brazil from 90 to 83.5 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous period. Technically, it is a genus of baurusuchid mesoeucrocodylian. It was a terrest ...

'', ''

Peirosaurus torminni ''Peirosaurus'' is an extinct genus of peirosaurid crocodylomorph known from the Late Cretaceous period (late Maastrichtian stage) of Minas Gerais, southern Brazil. It contains a single species, ''Peirosaurus torminni''. It is the type genus of ...

'', or ''

Crocodylus niloticus ''Crocodylus'' is a genus of true crocodiles in the family Crocodylidae. Taxonomy The generic name, ''Crocodylus'', was proposed by Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in 1768. ''Crocodylus'' contains 13–14 extant (living) species and 5 extinct species ...

''. Two genera are known to belong to Stomatosuchidae: ''Stomatosuchus'', the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal f ...

, and ''

Laganosuchus ''Laganosuchus'' is an extinct genus of stomatosuchid crocodyliform. Fossils have been found from Niger and Morocco and date back to the Upper Cretaceous. Discovery The name means "pancake crocodile" from the Greek , ("pancake") and , ("cro ...

''. Fossils have been found from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

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 ...

, and

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesCenomanian 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 ...

stage 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 ...

. The skulls of stomatosuchids are said to be platyrostral because they have unusually flattened, elongate, duck-shaped craniums with U-shaped jaws. This platyrostral condition is similar to what is seen in the "nettosuchid" ''

Mourasuchus ''Mourasuchus'' is an extinct genus of giant, aberrant caiman from the Miocene of South America. Its skull has been described as duck-like, being broad, flat, and very elongate, superficially resembling '' Stomatosuchus'' from the Late Cretaceo ...

'', which is not closely related to stomatosuchids as it is a more derived

alligatoroid Alligatoroidea is one of three superfamilies of crocodylians, the other two being Crocodyloidea and Gavialoidea. Alligatoroidea evolved in the Late Cretaceous period, and consists of the alligators and caimans, as well as extinct members mor ...

that existed during the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

Unlike ''Mourasuchus'', stomatosuchids have jaws that are less strongly bowed. Additionally, the

glenoid The glenoid fossa of the scapula or the glenoid cavity is a bone part of the shoulder. The word ''glenoid'' is pronounced or (both are common) and is from el, gléne, "socket", reflecting the shoulder joint's ball-and-socket form. It is a sha ...

is rounded rather than cupped at the posterior end of the jaw, and the retroarticular process is straight rather than dorsally curving like in ''Mourasuchus'' and other extant

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 ...

ns. The only existing specimens of stomatosuchids belong to the recently described genus ''Laganosuchus'', which is known from two species, ''L. thaumastos'' and ''L. maghrebensis'' from the

Echkar Formation The Echkar Formation is a geological formation comprising sandstones and claystones in the Agadez Region of Niger, central Africa. Description Its strata date back to the Late Albian to Late Cretaceous ( Cenomanian stages, about 100-95 milli ...

in Niger and the

Kem Kem Beds 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, ...

in Morocco, respectively. The genus ''Stomatosuchus'' is known only from a holotype skull collected from the

Bahariya Formation The Bahariya Formation (also transcribed as Baharija Formation) is a fossiliferous geologic formation dating back to the early Cenomanian, which outcrops within the Bahariya depression in Egypt, and is known from oil exploration drilling across mu ...

in Egypt, which was destroyed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

with the bombing of the Munich Museum.Stromer, E. (1925) "Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens. II. Wirbeltier-Reste der Baharije-Stufe (unterstes Cenoman). 7. ''Stomatosuchus inermis'' Stromer, ein schwach bezahnter Krokodilier und 8. Ein Skelettrest des Pristiden ''Onchopristis numidus'' Huag sp.". ''Abhandlungen der königlichen Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Physikalische Klasse'' 30: 1–22. Because ''Stomatosuchus'' is known only from brief accounts by

Ernst Stromer Ernst Freiherr Stromer von Reichenbach (12 June 1871 in Nürnberg – 18 December 1952 in Erlangen) was a German paleontologist. He is best remembered for his expedition to Egypt, during which the first known remains of ''Spinosaurus'' we ...

and

Franz Nopcsa Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see ...

(1926) and no additional material has ever been found, the genus remains enigmatic.Stromer, E. (1936) "Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens. II. Wirbeltier-Reste der Baharije-Stufe (unterstes Cenoman). VII. Baharije-Kessel und -Stufe mit deren Fauna und Flora. Eine ergänzende Zusammenfassung". ''Abhandlungen der königlichen Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Physikalische Klasse'' 33: 1–102. The genus '' Aegyptosuchus'' was once considered to be a member of Stomatosuchidae, but it is now placed within its own family, Aegyptosuchidae.

References

External links

Stomatosuchidae
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 Prehistoric reptiles of Africa Cenomanian first appearances Cenomanian extinctions Prehistoric reptile families {{paleo-archosaur-stub