Neosuchia

Neosuchia Temporal range: Early Jurassic - Recent, 196.5–0  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Crocodylus niloticus , a modern crocodylid
Sarcosuchus imperator , a pholidosaurid from North Africa in the Early Cretaceous
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauria
Clade:	Pseudosuchia
Clade:	Crocodylomorpha
Clade:	Metasuchia
Clade:	Neosuchia Benton & Clark, 1988
Subgroups
† Burkesuchus † Gilchristosuchus † Isisfordia † Karatausuchus † Khoratosuchus † Montsecosuchus † Paluxysuchus † Stolokrosuchus ? † Susisuchus † Tadzhikosuchus † Wahasuchus ? † Atoposauridae † Bernissartiidae † Goniopholididae † Paralligatoridae † Stomatosuchidae † Tethysuchia † Thalattosuchia ? † Wannchampsidae Eusuchia (includes crocodylians)

Neosuchia is a clade within Mesoeucrocodylia that includes all modern extant crocodilians and their closest fossil relatives. ^[1] It is defined as the most inclusive clade containing all crocodylomorphs more closely related to Crocodylus niloticus (the Nile Crocodile) than to Notosuchus terrestris . ^[2] Members of Neosuchia generally share a crocodilian-like bodyform adapted to freshwater aquatic life, as opposed to the terrestrial habits of more basal crocodylomorph groups. ^[3] The earliest neosuchian is suggested to be the Early Jurassic Calsoyasuchus , which lived during the Sinemurian and Pliensbachian stages in North America. It is often identified as a member of Goniopholididae, ^[4] though this is disputed, and the taxon may lie outside Neosuchia, which places the earliest records of the group in the Middle Jurassic. ^[3]

Characteristics

Life restoration of Siamosuchus , a member of Goniopholididae

Members of Neosuchia have a wide diversity of skull shapes. Several groups convergently evolved elongate gharial-like skulls, which makes determining phylogenetic relationships of these taxa problematic. ^[5]

Phylogeny

Cladogram from Groh et al. 2022: ^[6]

Neosuchia	† Alligatorellus † Alligatorium †Atoposauridae †Tethysuchia †Goniopholididae † Koumpiodontosuchus †Paralligatoridae † Susisuchus † Isisfordia Eusuchia

References

1. Wilson, J. A.; Malkani, M. S.; Gingerich, P. D. (2001). "New crocodyliform (Reptilia, Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Upper Cretaceous Pab Formation of Vitakri, Balochistan (Pakistan)" (PDF). Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan. 30 (12): 321–336. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
2. Larsson, H. C. E.; Sidor, C. A.; Gado, B.; Gado, B (2001). "The giant crocodyliform Sarcosuchus from the Cretaceous of Africa" (PDF). Science . 294 (5546): 1516–1519. Bibcode:2001Sci...294.1516S. doi:10.1126/science.1066521. PMID   11679634. S2CID   22956704. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
3. Wilberg, Eric W.; Turner, Alan H.; Brochu, Christopher A. (2019-01-24). "Evolutionary structure and timing of major habitat shifts in Crocodylomorpha". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 514. Bibcode:2019NatSR...9..514W. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-36795-1. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   6346023 . PMID   30679529.
4. Tykoski, R. S.; Rowe, T. B.; Ketcham, R. A.; Colbert, M. W. (2002). "Calsoyasuchus valliceps, a new crocodyliform from the Early Jurassic Kayenta Formation of Arizona" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 22 (3): 593–611. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0593:CVANCF]2.0.CO;2 . Retrieved 2009-11-02.
5. Groh, Sebastian S; Upchurch, Paul; Barrett, Paul M; Day, Julia J (2019-10-19). "The phylogenetic relationships of neosuchian crocodiles and their implications for the convergent evolution of the longirostrine condition". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society zlz117. doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz117 . ISSN   0024-4082.
6. Groh, Sebastian S.; Upchurch, Paul; Barrett, Paul M.; Day, Julia J. (March 2022). Benson, Roger (ed.). "How to date a crocodile: estimation of neosuchian clade ages and a comparison of four time-scaling methods". Palaeontology. 65 (2) e12589. Bibcode:2022Palgy..6512589G. doi:10.1111/pala.12589. ISSN   0031-0239.

External links

• Neosuchia in the Paleobiology Database