Brachyuranochampsa

Brachyuranochampsa Temporal range: Middle Eocene, 56–33.9  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauria
Order:	Crocodilia
Genus:	† Brachyuranochampsa Zangerl, 1944
Species
†B. eversoleiZangerl, 1944 (type)

Brachyuranochampsa is an extinct genus of crocodilian.

The only robust occurrence of Brachyuranochampsa is B. eversolei from the Middle Eocene of Wyoming. ^[1] Another species, B. zangerli from the lower Bridger Formation at Grizzly Buttes, has been synonymized with another primitive crocodilian, "Crocodylus" affinis , also known from the Bridger Formation. ^{[2] [3]}

Phylogenetic studies have consistently recovered Brachyuranochampsa as more basal than the crown group Crocodylidae, which consists of all extant (living) crocodiles. ^{[2] [4]}

The below cladogram from a 2018 study combining morphological data and molecular DNA evidence shows the placement of Brachyuranochampsa within Crocodylia. ^[5]

Crocodylia	Alligatoroidea Prodiplocynodon † Asiatosuchus germanicus † "Crocodylus" affinis † "Crocodylus" depressifrons † "Crocodylus" acer † Brachyuranochampsa eversolei† Mekosuchinae † Longirostres Crocodyloidea "Crocodylus" megarhinus † Crocodylidae Gavialoidea extinct basal Gavialoids† Gavialidae Gavialis Tomistoma

References

1. Zangerl, R. (1944). Brachyuranochampsa eversolei, gen. et sp. nov., a new crocodilian from the Washakie beds of Wyoming. Annals of Carnegie Museum, 30:77-84
2. Brochu, C. A. (1997). "Morphology, fossils, divergence timing, and the phylogenetic relationships of Gavialis". Systematic Biology . 46 (3): 479–522. doi: 10.1093/sysbio/46.3.479 .
3. Brochu, C. A. (2000). "Phylogenetic relationships and divergence timing of Crocodylus based on morphology and the fossil record". Copeia . 2000 (3): 657–673. doi:10.1643/0045-8511(2000)000[0657:pradto]2.0.co;2.
4. Brochu, C. A.; Storrs, G. W. (2012). "A giant crocodile from the Plio-Pleistocene of Kenya, the phylogenetic relationships of Neogene African crocodylines, and the antiquity of Crocodylus in Africa". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 32 (3): 587. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.652324.
5. Michael S. Y. Lee; Adam M. Yates (27 June 2018). "Tip-dating and homoplasy: reconciling the shallow molecular divergences of modern gharials with their long fossil". Proceedings of the Royal Society B . 285 (1881). doi: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1071 . PMC   6030529 . PMID   30051855.

External links

• Brachyuranochampsa in the Paleobiology Database