Marasuchus

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Marasuchus
Temporal range: Late Triassic, 235–234  Ma
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Marasuchus.JPG
Restored skeleton
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauriformes
Genus: Marasuchus
Sereno & Arcucci 1994
Species:
M. lilloensis
Binomial name
Marasuchus lilloensis
(Romer 1972 [originally Lagosuchus])
Synonyms
  • Lagosuchus lilloensisRomer 1972
  • Lagosuchus talampayensis? Romer 1971

Marasuchus (meaning "Mara crocodile") is a genus of basal dinosauriform archosaur which is possibly synonymous with Lagosuchus . [1] Both genera lived during the Late Triassic in what is now La Rioja Province, Argentina. Marasuchus contains a single species, Marasuchus lilloensis. [2]

Contents

Marasuchus lilloensis was originally designated as Lagosuchus lilloensis in 1972. [3] It was considered a new species of Lagosuchus, a contemporary archosaur described the previous year. [4] However, a 1994 study argued that the original material of Lagosuchus was undiagnostic. This would mean that Lagosuchus and its original species (Lagosuchus talampayaensis) could be considered nomen dubia. Specimens of Lagosuchus stored at a museum in San Miguel de Tucuman were considered to be more diagnostic than those of L. talampayensis, and thus they were given a new genus: Marasuchus. [2] A 2019 study redescribed the original material of Lagosuchus and concluded that it was valid and not readily distinguishable from Marasuchus lilloensis. This suggests that Marasuchus lilloensis is a junior synonym of Lagosuchus talampayensis. [1]

Specimens referred to the genus Marasuchus possessed some, but not all of the adaptations which traditionally characterized dinosaurs. For example, its proportions indicate that it was likely bipedal as in early dinosaurs. Also, it shared certain specific characteristics with that group, most relating to the hip and the head of the femur. Nevertheless, it lacked certain dinosaur-like features such as a perforated acetabulum, and it had several plesiomorphic ("primitive") features of the ankle. [2]

Discovery and history

Marasuchus hails from the Chañares Formation of Argentina. This formation has been dated to the early Carnian (the first stage of the Late Triassic), about 235 to 234 million years old. [5] Many Chanares fossils, including the first known remains of Marasuchus, were unearthed as a result of a 1964-1965 paleontological expedition. This expedition was undertaken by paleontologists from the MCZ (Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard) and the MLP (Museo de La Plata in La Plata, Argentina). Discoveries made during the expedition were later described in a series of papers by Alfred Romer from the MCZ. Around the same time, further expeditions by Jose Bonaparte of the PVL (Paleontología de Vertebrados, Instituto ‘Miguel Lillo’ in San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina) unearthed additional fossils from the area. [4] [3] [6]

Marasuchus lilloensis is known from several specimens representing most of the animal's skeletal anatomy, although skull material remains limited. [2] [7] The holotype, PVL 3871, was collected by Bonaparte in 1969 and was initially known as "the Tucuman specimen". This specimen consists of large portions of the tail, left forelimb, hip, and hindlimbs. Other Marasuchus fossils are stored at the PVL as well. PVL 3870 includes skull material, the entire presacral vertebral column, and a nearly complete hip and hindlimbs. PVL 3872 is a braincase and associated cervical (neck) vertebrae. PVL 4670 and 4671 each consist of vertebrae from the base of the tail, while PVL 4672 is a sequence of cervical and dorsal (trunk) vertebrae. [2] The referral of PVL 4670 to Marasuchus (or Lagosuchus) is uncertain due to the absence of diagnostic features clearly shared with other specimens. [1]

Relation to Lagosuchus

Mounted skeleton of Lagosuchus talampayensis, which is possibly the same animal as Marasuchus Lagosuchus Talampayensis.png
Mounted skeleton of Lagosuchus talampayensis , which is possibly the same animal as Marasuchus

When the Tucuman specimen was first described by Romer in 1972, it was placed as the type specimen of a new species, Lagosuchus lilloensis. Lagosuchus talampayensis, the type species of Lagosuchus, had been named a few papers earlier in 1971. The two species were differentiated mainly on the basis of the Tucuman specimen being larger than the type specimen of L. talampayensis. In his 1975 review of the genus, Jose Bonaparte regarded the two species as synonymous, with L. lilloensis as a junior synonym of L. talampayensis. [6] Many other sources published between 1972 and 1994 followed this conclusion. [8] [9]

However, a later study by Paul Sereno and Andrea Arcucci (1994) concluded that the original type specimen of Lagosuchus was poorly preserved and undiagnostic. They argued against assigning other specimens to the genus Lagosuchus, which they regarded as a nomen dubium . They also noted that many referred PVL specimens had limb proportions and other subtle traits differing from Lagosuchus specimens stored elsewhere. On this basis, a new genus was erected to contain the PVL specimens. This new genus was called Marasuchus ("Mara crocodile"), a nod to the etymology of Lagosuchus ("Rabbit crocodile"). It was given the specific name Marasuchus lilloensis, based on Romer's species designation for the Tucuman specimen. [2] Between 1994 and 2019, Marasuchus was considered a more diagnostic and well-described replacement name for the dinosauriform taxon known previously as Lagosuchus. [10] [7] [11]

In 2019, the type specimen of Lagosuchus was re-examined by Federico Agnolin and Martin Ezcurra, who noted that the type specimen actually does share several of the diagnostic traits identified by Sereno and Arucci for Marasuchus. Furthermore, they argued that variations in size and certain features of the skeleton were either ontogenetic or individually variable. As a result, they referred the PVL specimens back to Lagosuchus. Following their conclusion, Marasuchus lilloensis could be considered a synonym of Lagosuchus talampayensis once more. [1]

Description

Life restoration of M. lilloensis with feather-like filaments Marasuchus.jpg
Life restoration of M. lilloensis with feather-like filaments

In terms of proportions, Marasuchus generally resembled early theropod dinosaurs like Coelophysis . The limbs were long and slender, with the hindlimbs about twice the length of the forelimbs. These proportions meant that it was probably bipedal and had acquired the upright stance characteristic of dinosaurs. The neck was long, with an S-shaped curve as its default position, while the tail was very long and thin, though deeper at its base. The type specimen of Marasuchus (PVL 3871) had a femur which was 5.75 cm (2.26) inches in length, about 40-50% larger than the type specimen of Lagosuchus talampayensis. Nevertheless, Marasuchus was still a small and lightly built animal. [3] [2] [1]

Skull

Skull material is very limited for Marasuchus, with the only preserved bones from this region being a maxilla (a toothed bone at the side of the snout) preserved in PVL 3870 and braincases preserved in PVL 3870 and 3872. The maxilla was low, with at least 12 teeth. Most of these teeth were blade-like and serrated, but some of those near the rear of the bone were less curved and more leaf-shaped. The maxilla also possessed interdental plates on its inner surface. The braincase was tall and fairly typical compared to other early archosaurs. However, in a few cases it shared specific similarities with the braincase of early dinosaurs. For example, the basipterygoid processes (a pair of plates at the bottom of the braincase which connect to the roof of the mouth) were short, blade-like, and tilted forwards. In addition, the exoccipitals (a pair of braincase bones adjacent to the foramen magnum, the main exit for the spinal cord) were wide and edged by a pronounced ridge next to the exit holes for the hypoglossal nerve. [2] Bonaparte (1975) additionally described squamosal and quadrate bones similar to those of Euparkeria attached to PVL 3872's braincase, although these were not mentioned by later studies. [6]

Vertebrae

Almost the entirety of the spinal column is present in Marasuchus, barring the tip of the tail. Most of Marasuchus' diagnostic features (i.e. unique or unusual traits which characterize it specifically) occur in its vertebrae. Most of the neck vertebrae were elongated and had offset front and rear ends, creating a long and curved neck like that of other avemetatarsalians (bird-lineage archosaurs). Also like avemetatarsalians, the upward projecting neural spine of the axis vertebra was expanded and trapezoidal rather than peak-like. More uniquely, the neural spines of vertebrae closer to the base of the neck leaned forwards. Vertebrae near the hip were also characteristic to Marasuchus, since their neural spines were also trapezoidal and expanded to such an extent that they contacted those of adjacent vertebrae. Two vertebrae attach to the hip, less than in most dinosaurs which typically acquire three or more in the sacrum. The tail was characteristically elongated, with vertebrae drastically increasing in length towards the tip. The chevrons (spine-like bones projecting under the tail vertebrae) were also elongated in tail vertebrae near the hip, making the tail unusually deep at its base as well. [2]

Forelimbs

The scapulocoracoid (shoulder blade) was quite large and broad unlike most other avemetatarsalians. On the other hand, the glenoid (shoulder socket) was directed somewhat backwards (rather than sideways), as is the case with other dinosauriforms. The forelimb bones (consisting of a humerus, ulna, and radius) were very slender and shorter than the leg bones, and the forelimb as a whole was about half the size of the hindlimb. No portion of the hand was preserved. [2]

The (mirrored) right pelvis of specimen PVL 3870 Marasuchus hip photo.png
The (mirrored) right pelvis of specimen PVL 3870

Hip

The pelvis (hip) shared quite a few similarities with other dinosauriforms not otherwise present in earlier archosauriforms. The ilium (upper blade of the hip) was similar to that of Herrerasaurus in general shape. The pubis (front lower blade of the hip) was longer than the ischium (rear lower blade of the hip), like dinosauriforms. However, the ischium was also enlarged relative to earlier archosauriforms, as it was longer than the main portion of the ilium. Furthermore, the ischium's contact with the pubis is less extensive than in early archosauriforms and it fails to contact the ilium along the boundary of the pubis, as with silesaurids and saurischian dinosaurs. This "gap" between the ilium and ischium along the edge of the pubis becomes more developed in dinosaurs, where it becomes and open cavity that fills up the entire acetabulum (hip socket). However, this had not yet evolved in Marasuchus, which retains a bony inner wall of the acetablum. Moreover, the edge of the ischium in Marasuchus retains contact between the ilium and pubis, unlike dinosaurs. Nevertheless, a depression present in that area may be a predecessor to the more advanced condition in dinosaurs. [2] [7]

Hindlimbs

Modifications to the acetabulum are mirrored in the head of the femur (thigh bone), which connects to it. A distinct tab of bone known as an anterior trochanter was present on the outer edge of the femoral head, as with other dinosauriforms and to a lesser extent in other avemetatarsalians. In addition, Marasuchus also possessed a ridge of bone known as the trochanteric shelf, which branches down from the anterior trochanter and wraps around the shaft of the femur. A trochanteric shelf is also characteristic of some early dinosaurs, silesaurids, and some specimens of Dromomeron , and a similar structure is also present in aphanosaurs, albeit separate from their equivalent of the anterior trochanter. As with other dinosauriforms, the tibia (shin bone) has a longitudinal groove edged by a sharp flange at its rear outer corner, near the ankle. The tibia was also longer than the femur. [2]

The ankle had two main bones: the larger, boxy astragalus and a smaller calcaneum attached to its outer edge. In some aspects, the ankle shared features with other dinosauriforms, such as a vertical triangular branch of the astragalus (known as an ascending process) which rises up in front of the tibia. However, in other aspects the ankle was surprisingly primitive, even compared to earlier avemetatarsalians like pterosaurs and lagerpetids. For example, the rear of the astragalus possesses a vertical groove, and the calcaneum had a knob on its rear edge known as a calcaneal tuber. Unlike lagerpetids or coelophysoids, the astragalus and calcaneum were not fused together. The five metatarsals (foot bones) were thin, elongated, and close together. The third and fourth metatarsals were the longest, followed by the second, with the first and fifth being only about half the length of the longest. Although not all of the pedal phalanges (toe bones) were preserved, the phalangeal formula (number of bones per toe) was likely 2-3-4-5-0 as with other dinosauromorphs. [2]

Classification

Life restoration (without feather-like filaments) compared to human legs. Marasuchus NT small.jpg
Life restoration (without feather-like filaments) compared to human legs.

Marasuchus was part of Avemetatarsalia, the branch of archosaurs closer to birds and other dinosaurs rather than to crocodilians. More specifically, it was a dinosauriform, meaning that it was closer to dinosaurs than the lagerpetids. Although it was not as close as silesaurids such as Silesaurus , Marasuchus is still one of the most completely known avemetatarsalians, assisting knowledge of the early evolution of dinosaur-like characteristics. The following is a cladogram of basal Dinosauriformes according to Nesbitt (2011), [7] and Dinosauria according to Baron et al. (2017): [12]

Related Research Articles

<i>Lagosuchus</i> Genus of fossil bipedal reptile closely related to dinosaurs

Lagosuchus is an extinct genus of avemetatarsalian archosaur from the Late Triassic of Argentina. The type species of Lagosuchus, Lagosuchus talampayensis, is based on a small partial skeleton recovered from the early Carnian-age Chañares Formation. The holotype skeleton of L. talampayensis is fairly fragmentary, but it does possess some traits suggesting that Lagosuchus was a probable dinosauriform, closely related to dinosaurs.

<i>Gracilisuchus</i> Genus of fossil reptiles

Gracilisuchus is an extinct genus of tiny pseudosuchian from the Late Triassic of Argentina. It contains a single species, G. stipanicicorum, which is placed in the clade Suchia, close to the ancestry of crocodylomorphs. Both the genus and the species were first described by Alfred Romer in 1972.

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

Lagerpeton is a genus of lagerpetid avemetatarsalian, comprising a single species, L. chanarensis. First described from the Chañares Formation of Argentina by A. S. Romer in 1971, Lagerpeton's anatomy is somewhat incompletely known, with fossil specimens accounting for the pelvic girdle, hindlimbs, posterior presacral, sacral and anterior caudal vertebrae. Skull and shoulder material has also been described.

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

Riojasuchus is an extinct genus of ornithosuchid archosaur from the Late Triassic (Norian) of Argentina. Ornithosuchidae was a widespread family of facultatively bipedal pseudosuchians with adaptations for scavenging. Riojasuchus is notable as one of the youngest and most complete members of the family. The type and only known species, Riojasuchus tenuisceps, was named and described by José Bonaparte in 1967. It was one of the first of many well-preserved Triassic archosaurs to be discovered in Argentina. The holotype specimen, PVL 3827, was found in the Los Colorados Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in northwestern Argentina.

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

Lewisuchus is a genus of archosaur that lived during the Late Triassic. As a silesaurid dinosauriform, it was a member of the group of reptiles most commonly considered to be the closest relatives of dinosaurs. Lewisuchus was about 1 metre (3.3 ft) long. Fossils have been found in the Chañares Formation of Argentina. It exhibited osteoderms along its back.

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

Teleocrater is a genus of avemetatarsalian archosaur from the Middle Triassic Manda Formation of Tanzania. The name was coined by English paleontologist Alan Charig in his 1956 doctoral dissertation, but was only formally published in 2017 by Sterling Nesbitt and colleagues. The genus contains the type and only species T. rhadinus. Uncertainty over the affinities of Teleocrater have persisted since Charig's initial publication; they were not resolved until Nesbitt et al. performed a phylogenetic analysis. They found that Teleocrater is most closely related to the similarly enigmatic Yarasuchus, Dongusuchus, and Spondylosoma in a group that was named the Aphanosauria. Aphanosauria was found to be the sister group of the Ornithodira, the group containing dinosaurs and pterosaurs.

<i>Poposaurus</i> Extinct genus of Archosaur

Poposaurus is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian archosaur from the Late Triassic of the southwestern United States. It belongs to the clade Poposauroidea, an unusual group of Triassic pseudosuchians that includes sail-backed, beaked, and aquatic forms. Fossils have been found in Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, and Texas. Except for the skull, most parts of the skeleton are known. The type species, P. gracilis, was described and named by Maurice Goldsmith Mehl in 1915. A second species, P. langstoni, was originally the type species of the genus Lythrosuchus. Since it was first described, Poposaurus has been variously classified as a dinosaur, a phytosaur, and a "rauisuchian".

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

Turfanosuchus is a genus of archosauriform reptile, likely a gracilisuchid archosaur, which lived during the Middle Triassic (Anisian) of northwestern China. The type species, T. dabanensis, was described by C.C. Young in 1973, based on a partially complete but disarticulated fossil skeleton found in the Kelamayi Formation of the Turfan Basin.

Yarasuchus is an extinct genus of avemetatarsalian archosaur that lived during the Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic of India. The genus was named and described in 2005 from a collection of disarticulated but fairly complete fossil material found from the Middle Triassic Yerrapalli Formation. The material is thought to be from two individuals, possibly three, with one being much more complete and articulated than the other. The type and only species is Y. deccanensis. Yarasuchus was a quadruped roughly 2–2.5 metres (6.6–8.2 ft) long, with an elongated neck and tall spines on its vertebrae. Unlike other quadrupedal Triassic reptiles, the limbs and shoulders of Yarasuchus were slender, and more like those of ornithodirans.

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

Chanaresuchus is an extinct genus of proterochampsid archosauriform. It was of modest size for a proterochampsian, being on average just over a meter in length. The type species is Chanaresuchus bonapartei was named in 1971. Its fossils were found in from the early Carnian-age Chañares Formation in La Rioja Province, Argentina. Chanaresuchus appears to be one of the most common archosauriforms from the Chañares Formation due to the abundance of specimens referred to the genus. Much of the material has been found by the La Plata-Harvard expedition of 1964-65. Chanaresuchus is the most well-described proterochampsid in the subfamily Rhadinosuchinae.

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

Vancleavea is a genus of extinct, armoured, non-archosaurian archosauriforms from the Late Triassic of western North America. The type and only known species is V. campi, named by Robert Long & Phillip A Murry in 1995. At that time, the genus was only known from fragmentary bones including osteoderms and vertebrae. However, since then many more fossils have been found, including a pair of nearly complete skeletons discovered in 2002. These finds have shown that members of the genus were bizarre semiaquatic reptiles. Vancleavea individuals had short snouts with large, fang-like teeth, and long bodies with small limbs. They were completely covered with bony plates known as osteoderms, which came in several different varieties distributed around the body. Phylogenetic analyses by professional paleontologists have shown that Vancleavea was an archosauriform, part of the lineage of reptiles that would lead to archosaurs such as dinosaurs and crocodilians. Vancleavea lacks certain traits which are present in most other archosauriforms, most notably the antorbital, mandibular and supratemporal fenestrae, which are weight-saving holes in the skulls of other taxa. However, other features clearly support its archosauriform identity, including a lack of intercentra, the presence of osteoderms, an ossified laterosphenoid, and several adaptations of the femur and ankle bones. In 2016, a new genus of archosauriform, Litorosuchus, was described. This genus resembled both Vancleavea and more typical archosauriforms in different respects, allowing Litorosuchus to act as a transitional fossil linking Vancleavea to less aberrant archosauriforms.

<i>Asilisaurus</i> Genus of reptiles (fossil)

Asilisaurus ; from Swahili, asili, and Greek, σαυρος is an extinct genus of silesaurid archosaur. The type species is Asilisaurus kongwe.Asilisaurus fossils were uncovered in the Manda Beds of Tanzania and date back to the early Carnian, making it one of the oldest known members of the Avemetatarsalia. It was the first non-dinosaurian dinosauriform recovered from Africa. The discovery of Asilisaurus has provided evidence for a rapid diversification of avemetatarsalians during the Middle Triassic, with the diversification of archosaurs during this time previously only documented in pseudosuchians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lagerpetidae</span> Extinct family of reptiles

Lagerpetidae is a family of basal avemetatarsalians. Though traditionally considered the earliest-diverging dinosauromorphs, fossils described in 2020 suggest that lagerpetids may instead be pterosauromorphs. Lagerpetid fossils are known from the Triassic of Argentina, Arizona, Brazil, Madagascar, New Mexico, and Texas. They were typically small, although some lagerpetids, like Dromomeron gigas and a specimen from the Santa Rosa Formation attributed to Dromomeron sp., were able to get quite large. Lagerpetid fossils are rare; the most common finds are bones of the hindlimbs, which possessed a number of unique features.

<i>Eodromaeus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Eodromaeus is an extinct genus of probable basal theropod dinosaurs from the Late Triassic of Argentina. Like many other of the earliest-known dinosaurs, it hails from the Carnian-age Ischigualasto Formation, within the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin of northwestern Argentina. Upon its discovery, it was argued to be one of the oldest true theropods, supplanting its contemporary Eoraptor, which was reinterpreted as a basal sauropodomorph.

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

Poposauroidea is a clade of advanced pseudosuchians. It includes poposaurids, shuvosaurids, ctenosauriscids, and other unusual pseudosuchians such as Qianosuchus and Lotosaurus. It excludes most large predatory quadrupedal "rauisuchians" such as rauisuchids and "prestosuchids". Those reptiles are now allied with crocodylomorphs in a clade known as Loricata, which is the sister taxon to the poposauroids in the clade Paracrocodylomorpha. Although it was first formally defined in 2007, the name "Poposauroidea" has been used for many years. The group has been referred to as Poposauridae by some authors, although this name is often used more narrowly to refer to the family that includes Poposaurus and its close relatives.

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

Lutungutali is an extinct genus of silesaurid dinosauriform from the Middle Triassic of Zambia. The single type species of the genus is Lutungutali sitwensis. Lutungutali was named in 2013 and described from a fossil specimen, holotype NHCC LB32, including hip bones and tail vertebrae. The specimen was collected in 2009 from the upper Ntawere Formation, which dates to the Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic. Lutungutali is the first known silesaurid from Zambia and, along with the Tanzanian silesaurid Asilisaurus and dinosauriform Nyasasaurus, the oldest bird-line archosaur known from body fossils.

Ixalerpeton is a genus of lagerpetid avemetatarsalian containing one species, I. polesinensis. It lived in the Late Triassic of Brazil alongside the sauropodomorph dinosaur Buriolestes.

Aphanosauria is an extinct group of reptiles distantly related to dinosaurs. They are at the base of a group known as Avemetatarsalia, one of two main branches of archosaurs. The other main branch, Pseudosuchia, includes modern crocodilians. Aphanosaurs possessed features from both groups, indicating that they are the oldest and most primitive known clade of avemetatarsalians, at least in terms of their position on the archosaur family tree. Other avemetatarsalians include the flying pterosaurs, small bipedal lagerpetids, herbivorous silesaurids, and the incredibly diverse dinosaurs, which survive to the present day in the form of birds. Aphanosauria is formally defined as the most inclusive clade containing Teleocrater rhadinus and Yarasuchus deccanensis but not Passer domesticus or Crocodylus niloticus. This group was first recognized during the description of Teleocrater. Although only known by a few genera, Aphanosaurs had a widespread distribution across Pangaea in the Middle Triassic. They were fairly slow quadrupedal long-necked carnivores, a biology more similar to basal archosaurs than to advanced avemetatarsalians such as pterosaurs, lagerpetids, and early dinosaurs. In addition, they seemingly possess 'crocodile-normal' ankles, showing that 'advanced mesotarsal' ankles were not basal to the whole clade of Avemetatarsalia. Nevertheless, they possessed elevated growth rates compared to their contemporaries, indicating that they grew quickly, more like birds than other modern reptiles. Despite superficially resembling lizards, the closest modern relatives of aphanosaurs are birds.

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

Polymorphodon is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile from the Middle Triassic of Germany. The only known species is Polymorphodon adorfi, discovered in Lower Keuper deposits at a quarry in Eschenau, Germany. Polymorphodon is notable for its heterodont dentition, with long and conical premaxillary teeth followed by thin maxillary teeth with large serrations. Maxillary teeth near the back of the mouth are short and leaf-shaped, similar to some living and extinct reptiles with a herbivorous or omnivorous diet. This may suggest that Polymorphodon had some reliance on plants in its diet, a rarity among basal archosauriforms, most of which are carnivores.

<i>Incertovenator</i> Extinct genus of probable archosaur

Incertovenator is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile, likely an archosaur, of uncertain affinities. Its unstable position is a result of possessing a number features found in both the bird-line avemetatarsalian archosaurs and the crocodylian-line pseudosuchians. The type and only known species is I. longicollum, which is known from single specimen discovered in the Late Triassic Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina. Incertovenator is known almost entirely by its vertebral column. This indicates that it had a relatively long neck, leading to its uncertain classification due to the convergent evolution of elongated neck vertebrae in both avemetatarsalian and pseudosuchian archosaurs.

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