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Eusuchia
Eusuchia is a clade of neosuchian Crocodylomorpha, crocodylomorphs that first appeared in the Early Cretaceous, which includes modern Crocodilia, crocodilians. Along with Dyrosauridae and Sebecosuchia, they were the only crocodyliformes who survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, K-Pg extinction. 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 Convergent evolution, 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 ancestor of ''Hylaeochampsa'' and C ... [...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 scientifically described, described in 1928 by Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás, 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 ''Hyl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocodilia
Crocodilia () is an order of semiaquatic, predatory reptiles that are known as crocodilians. They first appeared during the Late Cretaceous and are the closest living relatives of birds. Crocodilians are a type of crocodylomorph pseudosuchian, a subset of archosaurs that appeared about 235 million years ago and were the only survivors of the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event. While other crocodylomorph groups further survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, notably sebecosuchians, only the crocodilians have survived into the Quaternary. The order 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 families, the term "crocodilians" is less ambiguous. Extant crocodilians have flat heads with long snouts and tails that are compressed on the sides, with their eyes, ears, and n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planocraniidae
Planocraniidae is an extinct 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 crocodyliform ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hylaeochampsidae
Hylaeochampsidae is an extinct family of basal eusuchian 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 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 genus called '' Pietraroiasuchus'' was assigned to Hylaeochampsidae i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deinosuchus
''Deinosuchus'' is an extinct genus of eusuchian, either an Alligatoroidea, alligatoroid Crocodilia, crocodilian or a stem-group crocodilian, which lived during the Late Cretaceous around . The first remains were discovered in North Carolina (United States) in the 1850s, and the genus was first described in 1909. Additional fragments were discovered in the 1940s and were later incorporated into an influential, though inaccurate, skull reconstruction at the American Museum of Natural History. Knowledge of ''Deinosuchus'' remains incomplete, but better Skull, cranial material found in recent years has expanded scientific understanding of this massive predator. Although ''Deinosuchus'' was far larger than any modern crocodile or alligator, with the largest adults measuring in total length, its overall appearance was fairly similar to its smaller relatives. It had large, robust teeth built for crushing, and its back was covered with thick hemispherical osteoderms. One study indic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isisfordia
''Isisfordia'' is an extinct genus of crocodyliform closely related to crocodilians that lived in Australia during the Middle Cretaceous (Albian–Cenomanian). Description The type species, ''I. duncani''. (named after the discoverer; former Deputy Mayor of Isisford, Ian Duncan) was discovered in the Winton Formation in Isisford, Queensland, Isisford, Queensland, Australia in the mid-1990s. Most of the animal was discovered, with the exception of the front portion of the skull. On a later expedition to the location, paleontologists discovered a complete skull which differed from the original specimen in size only. A second species ''I. molnari'' was named in 2019 from a braincase found in the Griman Creek Formation near Lightning Ridge, and the nominal species ''Crocodylus (Bottosaurus) selaslophensis'' Etheridge, 1917, based on a maxillary fragment from the same unit, was referred to ''I. molnari''. Later however, Hart (2020) noted that the ''selaslophensis'' holotype did ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eosuchus
''Eosuchus'' ("dawn crocodile") is an extinct genus of eusuchian crocodylomorph, traditionally regarded as a gavialoid crocodilian. It might have been among the most basal of all gavialoids, lying crownward of all other known members of the superfamily, including earlier putative members such as '' Thoracosaurus'' and '' Eothoracosaurus''. Fossils have been found from France as well as eastern North America in Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey. The strata from which specimens have been found date back to the late Paleocene and early Eocene epochs. Discovery The name ''Eosuchus'' was first used in 1907 to describe a single specimen found from northern France near the Belgian border, assigned to the type species ''Eosuchus lerichei''. A second species, ''Eosuchus minor'', was actually discovered earlier in 1870 by Othniel Charles Marsh, but was assigned to the genus ''Gavialis''. The ''Gavialis minor'' holotype specimen YPM 282 consisted of cranial fragments and isolat ... [...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''. 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 ''Confractosuchus'' was found in the upper layers of the Winton Formation in central-western Queensland. It was discovered in 2010 during the excavation of poorly preserved sauropod material within a concretion that formed between black soil and volcanogeni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thoracosaurus
''Thoracosaurus'' (chest lizard) is an extinct genus of long-snouted eusuchian which existed during the Late Cretaceous and Early Paleocene in North America and Europe. Taxonomy ''Thoracosaurus'' had traditionally been thought to be related to the modern false gharial, largely because the nasal bones contact the premaxillae. Phylogenetic work starting in the 1990s instead supported affinities within Gavialoidea exclusive of such forms, although a 2018 tip dating study simultaneously using morphological, molecular (DNA sequencing), and stratigraphic (fossil age) data suggests that it might have been a non-crocodylian eusuchian. The genus contains the type species ''Thoracosaurus neocesariensis'' in North America, and what is either ''Thoracosaurus isorhynchus'' or ''Thoracosaurus macrorhynchus'' from Europe; a recent review argues that ''T. macrorhynchus'' is a junior synonym of ''T. isorhynchus,'' but it is unclear whether the type of ''T. isorhynchus'' allows differentia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eothoracosaurus
''Eothoracosaurus'' is an extinct monospecific genus of eusuchian 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 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 older than the specimens fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eogavialis
''Eogavialis'' is an extinct genus of eusuchian crocodylomorph, usually regarded as a gavialoid crocodylian. It superficially resembles ''Tomistoma schlegelii'', the extant false gharial, and consequently material from the genus was originally referred to '' Tomistoma''. Indeed, it was not until 1982 that the name ''Eogavialis'' was constructed after it was realised that the specimens were from a more basal form. Species The genus was first described by Charles William Andrews in 1901 when Andrews named a new species of ''Tomistoma'', ''T. africanum'', on the basis of a specimen found from an outcrop of the Qasr el-Sagha Formation in Egypt, about 20 miles northwest of Faiyum, dating back to the Priabonian stage of the late Eocene 37.2 to 33.9 million years ago. Other specimens were later found from the Gebel Qatrani Formation, slightly younger than the Qasr el-Sagha dating back to the Rupelian stage of the early Oligocene 33.9 to 28.4 million years ago, and near the localit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argochampsa
''Argochampsa'' (meaning "Argo crocodile", in reference to the mythological ''Argo'' of Jason) is an extinct genus of eusuchian crocodylomorph, usually regarded as a gavialoid crocodilian, related to modern gharials. It lived in the Paleocene of Morocco. Described by Hua and Jouve in 2004, the type species is ''A. krebsi'', with the species named for . ''Argochampsa'' had a long narrow snout, and appears to have been marine in habits. Description ''Argochampsa'' is based on OCP DEK-GE 1201, a nearly complete skull from the Oulad Abdoun Basin, in the vicinity of Khouribga, Morocco. The skull, 43.3 centimeters long (17.0 in), had a long, narrow snout, marking it as a longirostrine crocodilian; the snout made up about 70% of the skull's length. The premaxillae at the tip of the snout were downturned, and the tip somewhat squared off, with the first few tooth positions in a straight line perpendicular to the long axis of the skull. There were five teeth in each premax ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
