Stomatosuchidae is an extinct

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 Crocodylomorpha, crocodylomorphs more closely related to ''Croc ...

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. Extinct crocodylomorphs were considerably mor ...

s. It is defined as the most inclusive

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 t ...

containing ''

Stomatosuchus inermis ''Stomatosuchus'' (meaning "mouth crocodile") is an extinct Stomatosuchidae, stomatosuchid Neosuchia, neosuchian from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Bahariya Formation of Egypt. The type and only species is ''S. inermis''. Much of what is known ...

'' but not '' Notosuchus terrestris'', '' Simosuchus clarki'', '' Araripesuchus gomesii'', '' Baurusuchus pachecoi'', '' Peirosaurus torminni'', or ''

Crocodylus niloticus The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the eastern, southern, and ce ...

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

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') 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-bearin ...

, and '' Laganosuchus''. Fossils have been found from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, and

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. Both lived during the

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...

stage of the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent 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 ''cre ...

. 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'', which is not closely related to stomatosuchids as it is a more derived alligatoroid that existed during the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), 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 mea ...

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 , "socket", reflecting the shoulder joint's ball-and-socket form. It is a shallow, pyrif ...

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 () is an Order (biology), 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 crocodylomorp ...

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 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 List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Egypt, fossiliferous Formation (stratigraphy), geologic formation dating back to the early Cenomanian, which outcrops within the Baha ...

in Egypt, which was destroyed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 (born on 12th of June, 1871 in Nürnberg, died on 18th of December, 1952 in Erlangen) was a German paleontologist best remembered for his expedition to Egypt, during which the discovery of the first kno ...

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 Fran ...

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

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7618744 Late Cretaceous crocodylomorphs Prehistoric reptiles of Africa Cenomanian first appearances Cenomanian extinctions Pseudosuchian families