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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] |
Planocrania Hengdongensis
''Planocrania'' is an extinct genus of eusuchian crocodyliforms from what is now China. Two species are currently known to belong to the genus. History The type species, ''Planocrania datangensis'', was named in 1976 from material found from Nanxiong in Guangdong, Guangdong Province, China, and the new genus ''Planocrania'' was placed in a newly erected family (biology), family Planocraniidae. A second species, ''Planocrania hengdongensis'', is known from Hengdong County in Hunan, Hunan Province and was scientifically described, described in 1984. ''Planocrania'' was subsequently included in the family Pristichampsidae along with the genus ''Pristichampsus''. Both genera were previously assigned to the subfamily (biology), subfamily Pristichampsinae within the family Crocodylidae before they were placed in their own family, the Pristichampsidae. However, in a 2013 phylogenetic analysis, the two Asian species of ''Planocrania'' were found to be most closely related to the North ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boverisuchus Magnifrons
''Boverisuchus'' is an extinct genus of planocraniid crocodyliforms known from the early to middle Eocene (Ypresian to Lutetian stages) of Germany and western North America. It was a relatively small crocodyliform with an estimated total length of approximately . History The type species ''Boverisuchus magnifrons'' was first named by paleontologist Oskar Kuhn in 1938, from the Lutetian of Germany alongside ''Weigeltisuchus geiseltalensis''. Most paleontologists have considered both species to represent junior synonyms of the type species of '' Pristichampsus'', ''P. rollinatii''. Following a revision of the genus ''Pristichampsus'' by Brochu (2013), ''P. rollinati'' was found to be based on insufficiently diagnostic material and therefore is a ''nomen dubium'' while ''Boverisuchus'' was reinstated as a valid genus. Brochu (2013) also assigned '' Crocodylus vorax'', which has been referred to as ''Pristichampsus vorax'' since Langston (1975), as the second species of ''Boverisuc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planocrania
''Planocrania'' is an extinct genus of eusuchian crocodyliforms from what is now China. Two species are currently known to belong to the genus. History The type species, ''Planocrania datangensis'', was named in 1976 from material found from Nanxiong in Guangdong Province, China, and the new genus ''Planocrania'' was placed in a newly erected family Planocraniidae. A second species, ''Planocrania hengdongensis'', is known from Hengdong County in Hunan Province and was described in 1984. ''Planocrania'' was subsequently included in the family Pristichampsidae along with the genus '' Pristichampsus''. Both genera were previously assigned to the subfamily Pristichampsinae within the family Crocodylidae before they were placed in their own family, the Pristichampsidae. However, in a 2013 phylogenetic analysis, the two Asian species of ''Planocrania'' were found to be most closely related to the North American and European '' Boverisuchus'', and the family Planocraniidae was reins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boverisuchus
''Boverisuchus'' is an extinct genus of planocraniid crocodyliforms known from the early to middle Eocene (Ypresian to Lutetian stages) of Germany and western North America. It was a relatively small crocodyliform with an estimated total length of approximately . History The type species ''Boverisuchus magnifrons'' was first named by paleontologist Oskar Kuhn in 1938, from the Lutetian of Germany alongside ''Weigeltisuchus geiseltalensis''. Most paleontologists have considered both species to represent junior synonyms of the type species of '' Pristichampsus'', ''P. rollinatii''. Following a revision of the genus ''Pristichampsus'' by Brochu (2013), ''P. rollinati'' was found to be based on insufficiently diagnostic material and therefore is a ''nomen dubium'' while ''Boverisuchus'' was reinstated as a valid genus. Brochu (2013) also assigned '' Crocodylus vorax'', which has been referred to as ''Pristichampsus vorax'' since Langston (1975), as the second species of ''Boverisuc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Duerosuchus
''Duerosuchus'' is an extinct genus of crocodilian. Remains have been found from Corrales del Vino in Zamora, Spain, and are middle Eocene in age (about 40 million years old). ''Duerosuchus'' is known from a single skull that is incomplete but otherwise well preserved, as well as a lower jaw, some osteoderms, and possibly some vertebrae. ''Duerosuchus'' is a basal crocodilian thought to be closely related to brevirostrine, or short snouted crocodilians, such as alligatoroids. However, the genus was not initially included in a phylogenetic study and its position within Crocodilia was uncertain, until a 2021 study recovered ''Duerosuchus'' within the family Planocraniidae. Discovery Remains of ''Duerosuchus'' were unearthed by an excavation team from the University of Salamanca. The remains were discovered by Luis Alonso Andrés and his son Luis Alonso Santiago, two amateur paleontologists. The genus was first described by Andrés and Santiago in 2009 and was named after the D ... [...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] |
Morphology (biology)
Morphology (from Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ) "form", and λόγος (lógos) "word, study, research") is the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features. This includes aspects of the outward appearance (shape, structure, color, pattern, size), as well as the form and structure of internal parts like bones and organs, i.e., anatomy. This is in contrast to physiology, which deals primarily with function. Morphology is a branch of life science dealing with the study of the overall structure of an organism or taxon and its component parts. History The etymology of the word "morphology" is from the Ancient Greek (), meaning "form", and (), meaning "word, study, research". While the concept of form in biology, opposed to function, dates back to Aristotle (see Aristotle's biology), the field of morphology was developed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1790) and independently by the German anatomist and physiologist Karl Fried ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical data and observed heritable traits of DNA sequences, protein amino acid sequences, and morphology. The results are a phylogenetic tree—a diagram depicting the hypothetical relationships among the organisms, reflecting their inferred evolutionary history. The tips of a phylogenetic tree represent the observed entities, which can be living taxa or fossils. A phylogenetic diagram can be rooted or unrooted. A rooted tree diagram indicates the hypothetical common ancestor of the taxa represented on the tree. An unrooted tree diagram (a network) makes no assumption about directionality of character state transformation, and does not show the origin or "root" of the taxa in question. In addition to their use for inferring phylogenetic pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach to taxonomy adopted by most biological fields. The common ancestor may be an individual, a population, or a species (extinct or Extant taxon, extant). Clades are nested, one in another, as each branch in turn splits into smaller branches. These splits reflect evolutionary history as populations diverged and evolved independently. Clades are termed ''monophyletic'' (Greek: "one clan") groups. Over the last few decades, the cladistic approach has revolutionized biological classification and revealed surprising evolutionary relationships among organisms. Increasingly, taxonomists try to avoid naming Taxon, taxa that are not clades; that is, taxa that are not Monophyly, monophyletic. Some of the relationships between organisms that the molecul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hylaeochampsa Vectiana
''Hylaeochampsa'' is an extinct genus of eusuchian crocodylomorphs. It is known only from a partial skull recovered from Barremian-age rocks of the Lower Cretaceous Vectis Formation (Wealden Group) of the Isle of Wight. This skull, BMNH R 177, is short and wide, with a eusuchian-like palate and inferred enlarged posterior teeth that would have been suitable for crushing.Owen, R. (1874). Monograph on the fossil Reptilia of the Wealden and Purbeck formations. Supplement no. V. Dinosauria (''Iguanodon''). ealden and Purbeck. ''The Palaeontographical Society, London'' 1873:1-18 ''Hylaochampsa'' was described by Richard Owen in 1874, with ''H. vectiana'' as the type species. It may be the same genus as the slightly older '' Heterosuchus'', inferred to have been of similar evolutionary grade, but there is no overlapping material as ''Heterosuchus'' is known only from vertebrae. If the two could be shown to be synonyms, ''Hylaeochampsa'' would have priority because it is the older nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allodaposuchus Precedens
''Allodaposuchus'' is an extinct genus of crocodyliforms that lived in what is now southern Europe during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages, and possibly the Santonian stage, of the Late Cretaceous. Although generally classified as a non-crocodylian eusuchian crocodylomorph, it is sometimes placed as one of the earliest true crocodylians. ''Allodaposuchus'' is one of the most common Late Cretaceous crocodylomorphs from Europe, with fossils known from Romania, Spain, and France. Description Like many other Cretaceous crocodylomorphs, ''Allodaposuchus'' has a relatively small body size compared to living crocodylians. The largest known specimen of ''Allodaposuchus'' belongs to an individual that was probably around long. Although the shape varies between species, in general ''Allodaposuchus'' has a short, flattened, and rounded skull. ''Allodaposuchus precedens'' has a brevirostrine or "short-snouted" skull with a snout about the same length as the skull table (the region of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
