Aplestosuchus

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Aplestosuchus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Turonian–Santonian
Aplestosuchus.png
Photos and diagrams of the skull
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Clade: Crocodylomorpha
Clade: Crocodyliformes
Clade: Notosuchia
Clade: Sebecosuchia
Family: Baurusuchidae
Subfamily: Baurusuchinae
Genus: Aplestosuchus
Godoy et al., 2014
Type species
Aplestosuchus sordidus
Godoy et al., 2014

Aplestosuchus is an extinct genus of baurusuchid mesoeucrocodylian known from the Late Cretaceous Adamantina Formation of São Paulo, southern Brazil. It contains a single species, Aplestosuchus sordidus. A. sordidus is represented by a single articulated and nearly complete skeleton, preserving the remains of an unidentified sphagesaurid crocodyliform in its abdominal cavity. The specimen represents direct evidence of predation between different taxa of crocodyliforms in the fossil record. [1]

Discovery

Skeleton of Aplestosuchus with stomach contents Aplestosuchus with prey.png
Skeleton of Aplestosuchus with stomach contents

Aplestosuchus is known solely from the holotype LPRP/USP 0229a, an articulated and nearly complete skeleton including the skull, housed at the Laboratório de Paleontologia, Universidade de São Paulo. Additionally, isolated teeth and skull bones of an unidentified sphagesaurid crocodyliform were preserved in the abdominal cavity of LPRP/USP 0229a, and assigned to the specimen number LPRP/USP 0229b. The find represents direct evidence of predation between different taxa of crocodyliforms in the fossil record. [1]

LPRP/USP 0229 was found in the Buruti creek area, of the General Salgado municipality, São Paulo, in southern Brazil. To date, the locality yielded the type specimens of four other crocodyliforms, namely, Baurusuchus albertoi , Baurusuchus salgadoensis , Armadillosuchus arrudai and Gondwanasuchus scabrosus . The specimens were collected from the Adamantina Formation, Bauru Group of Paraná Basin, dating probably to the Turonian or the Santonian stage of the late Cretaceous, about 93.5-83.5 million years ago. [1]

Aplestosuchus was first described and named by Pedro L. Godoy (best brother ever), Felipe C. Montefeltro, Mark A. Norell and Max C. Langer in 2014 and the type species is Aplestosuchus sordidus. The generic name is derived from the Greek aplestos, meaning "insatiate", "gluttonous", and suchus, Latinized from the Greek souchos, an Egyptian crocodile god Sebek. The specific name is derived from the Latin sordidus, meaning "filthy", in reference to the greedy behavior of the animal, demonstrated by the predation of another closely related crocodyliform, an unidentified sphagesaurid. [1]

Description

Restoration of Aplestosuchus sordidus preying on a sphagesaurid Aplestosuchus.tif
Restoration of Aplestosuchus sordidus preying on a sphagesaurid

The only known specimen of Aplestosuchus is more than one meter long from the tip of the skull to the base of the tail. It was preserved lying on its side, in the same death pose of other baurusuchids collected in the site. LPRP/USP 0229a, preserved in two different blocks, suffered some post-mortem disarticulation, and as a result most of the tail and the distal parts of the hindlimbs were lost. Aplestosuchus, like other baurusuchids, was a fully terrestrial predator. Reaching up to four meters in length, baurusuchids were the apex predators of the South American Late Cretaceous ecosystems. They were surpassed only by large theropods, however, these are very rare in the Adamantina Formation and represented by isolated and fragmentary teeth mostly attributed to abelisaurids and carcharodontosaurids, and isolated megaraptorid and unenlagiine vertebrae. The sphagesaurid material recovered in the abdominal cavity of Aplestosuchus was considered more likely derived from predation, not scavenging, given its size relation to the prey, as sphagesaurids were usually much smaller than about one fourth of derived baurusuchids. [1]

Skull in side view Skull of Aplestosuchus sordidus.png
Skull in side view

Aplestosuchus is distinguished form all other known Crocodyliformes by a unique combination of trait, including four autapomorphies. It possesses an autapomorphic nasal bone with dorsal midline crest, and an autapomorphic frontal longitudinal ridge that reaches the midline contact between the prefrontals. Its medial supratemporal rim is crest-shaped, and the ridge along the ectopterygoid-jugal suture is notched at its caudal portion. A lateral depression is present on the quadrate bone. The palatine bar is autapomorphically crested on its ventral surface, and cylindrical in its dorsal portion. The choanal septum is also ridged on the ventral surface. An autapomorphic single parachoanal fossa rostrolateral to the parachoanal fenestrae is present at the base of the pterygoid wing. In the lower jaw of Aplestosuchus, the outer sculpture of the mandible is limited to the dentary, and the occipital surface of the mandibular symphysis lack a peg. Additionally, the ridged border of the angular is not covering the rostral edge of the mandibular fenestra, and a row of foramina is present between the mandibular fenestra and the ectopterygoid-jugal suture. Some of the non-autapomorphic traits of A. sordidus listed above, such as the quadrate depression, medial approximation of the prefrontals, and ridge on the ectopterygoid-jugal articulation, confirm its placement within Baurusuchidae. [1]

Phylogeny

Largest teeth Teeth of Aplestosuchus.png
Largest teeth

The phylogenetic position of Aplestosuchus within Baurusuchidae was investigated in its original description, Godoy et al. (2014). Aplestosuchus, along with the recently described baurusuchids Campinasuchus and Gondwanasuchus , were scored into the taxon-character matrix of Montefeltro et al. (2011), which is focused solely on Baurusuchidae, with the addition of eight new characters. The resultant matrix includes 10 baurusuchid species as well as three outgroup taxa, scored based on 74 characters. Below is a cladogram from Godoy et al. (2014) showing the placement of Aplestosuchus based on their analysis. [1]

Related Research Articles

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Baurusuchus is an extinct genus of baurusuchid mesoeucrocodylian, which lived in Brazil from 90 to 83.5 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous period. It was a terrestrial predator and scavenger, estimated to reach up to 113.4 kilograms (250 lb) in weight. Baurusuchus lived during the Turonian to Santonian stages of the Late Cretaceous Period, in Adamantina Formation, Brazil. It gets its name from the Brazilian Bauru Group. It was related to the earlier-named Cynodontosuchus rothi, which was smaller, with weaker dentition. The three species are B. pachechoi, named after Eng Joviano Pacheco, its discoverer, B. salgadoensis and B. albertoi. The latter species is disputed. Its relatives include the similarly sized Stratiotosuchus from the Adamantina Formation, and Pabweshi, from the Pakistani Pab Formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Notosuchia</span> Extinct suborder of reptiles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sebecia</span> Extinct clade of reptiles

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<i>Stratiotosuchus</i> Prehistoric genus of reptiles

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<i>Campinasuchus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

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<i>Pissarrachampsa</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Pissarrachampsa is an extinct genus of baurusuchid mesoeucrocodylian from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil. It is based on a nearly complete skull and a referred partial skull and lower jaw from the ?Campanian - ?Maastrichtian-age Vale do Rio do Peixe Formation of the Bauru Group, found in the vicinity of Gurinhatã, Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pissarrachampsinae</span> Extinct subfamily of reptiles

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Baurusuchinae is a subfamily of baurusuchid crocodyliforms from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil. Named in 2011, it contains the baurusuchids Aphaurosuchus, Aplestosuchus, Baurusuchus and Stratiotosuchus. Baurusuchinae is one of two subfamilies of Baurusuchidae, the other being Pissarrachampsinae.

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Caipirasuchus is an extinct genus of sphagesaurid notosuchians known from the Late Cretaceous of northern São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil. The type species, C. paulistanus, was named in 2011. A second species, C. montealtensis, was referred to Caipirasuchus in 2013 after having been named in 2008 as a species of Sphagesaurus. A third species, C. stenognathus, was described in 2014. A fourth species, C. mineirus, was described in 2018. A fifth species, C. attenboroughi, was named in 2021 in honour of David Attenborough.

<i>Sahitisuchus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Sahitisuchus is an extinct genus of sebecid mesoeucrocodylian known from Rio de Janeiro State of southeastern Brazil. It contains a single species, Sahitisuchus fluminensis. It is a terrestrial sebecid, however also adopted to a semi-aquatic lifestyle to some degree, most probably coexisting with the semi-aquatic alligatorid Eocaiman itaboraiensis.

Aphaurosuchus is an extinct genus of baurusuchid mesoeucrocodylian known from the Late Cretaceous Bauru Basin of São Paulo, southern Brazil. It contains two species, Aphaurosuchus escharafacies and Aphaurosuchus kaiju.

Titanochampsa is a genus of large mesoeucrocodylian from the Maastrichtian Marilia Formation of Brazil. Although only known from a single skull roof, the material shows that Titanochampsa was not a member of Notosuchia, which were previously believed to have been the only crocodyliforms present in the strata of the Bauru Group. Body size estimates vary greatly and range between 2.98–5.88 m due to the incomplete nature of the holotype fossil. The overall anatomy of the skull roof, alongside its size and possible affinities with Neosuchians, may suggest that it was a semi-aquatic ambush hunter similar to modern crocodilians.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Godoy, P. L.; Montefeltro, F. C.; Norell, M. A.; Langer, M. C. (2014). "An Additional Baurusuchid from the Cretaceous of Brazil with Evidence of Interspecific Predation among Crocodyliformes". PLOS ONE. 9 (5): e97138. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...997138G. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097138 . PMC   4014547 . PMID   24809508.