| Ziphosuchians Temporal range: Middle Jurassic - Middle Miocene, | |
|---|---|
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| Life restoration of Notosuchus terrestris | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Superorder: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Clade: | Crocodyliformes |
| Clade: | Mesoeucrocodylia |
| Clade: | Metasuchia |
| Clade: | † Ziphosuchia Ortega et al., 2000 |
| Subgroups | |
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Ziphosuchia is a clade of mesoeucrocodylian crocodyliforms that includes notosuchians and sebecosuchians.
First constructed in 2000, it was considered to include Notosuchus , Libycosuchus , and Sebecosuchia. [1] [2] In a 2004 phylogenetic study, it was defined as the most recent common ancestor of Notosuchus, Libycosuchus, and Baurusuchoidea and all of its descendants. [3]
Ziphosuchia is often considered to be the sister group of Neosuchia, a clade that includes modern crocodilians. Razanandrongobe is the oldest representative of this clade. [4]
Simosuchus is an extinct genus of notosuchian crocodylomorphs from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. It is named for its unusually short skull. Fully grown individuals were about 0.75 metres (2.5 ft) in length. The type species is Simosuchus clarki, found from the Maevarano Formation in Mahajanga Province, although some fossils have been found in India.
Razanandrongobe is a genus of carnivorous ziphosuchian crocodyliform from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar. It contains the type and only species Razanandrongobe sakalavae, named in 2004 by Simone Maganuco and colleagues based on isolated bones found in 2003. The remains, which included a fragment of maxilla and teeth, originated from the Bathonian-aged Sakaraha Formation of Mahajanga, Madagascar. While they clearly belonged to a member of the Archosauria, Maganuco and colleagues refrained from assigning the genus to a specific group because the fragmentary remains resembled lineages among both the theropod dinosaurs and crocodylomorphs.
Notosuchia is a suborder of primarily Gondwanan mesoeucrocodylian crocodylomorphs that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Some phylogenies recover Sebecosuchia as a clade within Notosuchia, others as a sister group ; if Sebecosuchia is included within Notosuchia its existence is pushed into the Middle Miocene, about 11 million years ago. Fossils have been found from South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Notosuchia was a clade of terrestrial crocodilians that evolved a range of feeding behaviours, including herbivory (Chimaerasuchus), omnivory (Simosuchus), and terrestrial hypercarnivory (Baurusuchus). It included many members with highly derived traits unusual for crocodylomorphs, including mammal-like teeth, flexible bands of shield-like body armor similar to those of armadillos (Armadillosuchus), and possibly fleshy cheeks and pig-like snouts (Notosuchus). The suborder was first named in 1971 by Zulma Gasparini and has since undergone many phylogenetic revisions.
Neuquensuchus is an extinct genus of crocodyliform from the Santonian-age Upper Cretaceous Bajo de la Carpa Formation of Neuquén Province, Argentina. The known remains were discovered on the campus of Universidad Nacional del Comahue in the city of Neuquén. Neuquensuchus was named by Lucas E. Fiorelli and Jorge O. Calvo in a publication dated to 2007, but which became available in 2008. The type species is N. universitas, in recognition of its discovery locality. Unlike the great majority of crocodyliforms, its shin was longer than its thigh, suggesting it had some running ability.
Calsoyasuchus is a genus of goniopholidid mesoeucrocodylian that lived in the Early Jurassic. Its fossilized remains were found in the Sinemurian-Pliensbachian-age Kayenta Formation on Navajo Nation land in Coconino County, Arizona, United States. Formally described as C. valliceps, it is known from a single incomplete skull which is unusually derived for such an early crocodile relative. This genus was described in 2002 by Ronald Tykoski and colleagues; the species name means "valley head" and refers to a deep groove along the midline of the nasal bones and frontal bones.
Baurusuchidae is a Gondwanan family of mesoeucrocodylians that lived during the Late Cretaceous. It is a group of terrestrial hypercarnivorous crocodilians from South America and possibly Pakistan. Baurusuchidae has been, in accordance with the PhyloCode, officially defined as the least inclusive clade containing Cynodontosuchus rothi, Pissarrachampsa sera, and Baurusuchus pachecoi. Baurusuchids have been placed in the suborder Baurusuchia, and two subfamilies have been proposed: Baurusuchinae and Pissarrachampsinae.
Araripesuchus is a genus of extinct crocodyliform that existed during the Cretaceous period of the late Mesozoic era some 125 to 66 million years ago. Six species of Araripesuchus are currently known. They are generally considered to be notosuchians, characterized by their varied teeth types and distinct skull elements. This genus consists of six species: A. buitreraensis, discovered in Argentina, A. wegeneri, discovered in Cameroon and Niger, A. rattoides, discovered in Niger, A. tsangatsangana, discovered in Madagascar, A. gomesii, discovered in Brazil and another species discovered in Argentina, A. patagonicus.
Pabwehshi is an extinct genus of mesoeucrocodylian. It is based on GSP-UM 2000, a partial snout and corresponding lower jaw elements, with another snout assigned to it. These specimens were found in Maastrichtian-age Upper Cretaceous rocks of the Pab Formation in Balochistan, Pakistan, and represent the first diagnostic crocodyliform fossils from Cretaceous rocks of South Asia. Pabwehshi had serrated interlocking teeth in its snout that formed a "zig-zag" cutting edge. Pabwehshi was named in 2001 by Jeffrey A. Wilson and colleagues. The type species is P. pakistanensis, in reference to the nation where it was found. It was traditionally classified as a baurusuchid closely related to Cynodontosuchus and Baurusuchus. Larsson and Sues (2007) found close affinity between Pabwehshi and the Peirosauridae within Sebecia. Montefeltro et al.Pabwehshi has a sagittal torus on its maxillary palatal shelves – a character that is absent in baurusuchids – but they did not include Pabwehshi in their phylogenetic analysis.
Acynodon is an extinct genus of eusuchian crocodylomorph from the Late Cretaceous, with fossils found throughout Southern Europe.
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 crocodylomorphs more closely related to Crocodylus niloticus than to Notosuchus terrestris. Neosuchia is very diverse and may be polyphyletic, as the clade has undergone many revisions since it was first named in 1988. 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. The earliest neosuchian is suggested to be the Early Jurassic Calsoyasuchus, which lived during the Sinemurian and Pliensbachian stages, often identified as a member of Goniopholididae, though this is disputed, and the taxon may lie outside Neosuchia, which places the earliest records of the group in the Middle Jurassic.
Eremosuchus is an extinct genus of sebecosuchian mesoeucrocodylian. Fossils have been found from El Kohol, Algeria of Eocene age. It had serrated, ziphodont teeth.
Pipimorpha is an unranked clade containing extinct pipids who are more closely related to living Pipidae species than to living Rhinophrynus species.
Pholidosaurus is an extinct genus of neosuchian crocodylomorph. It is the type genus of the family Pholidosauridae. Fossils have been found in northwestern Germany. The genus is known to have existed during the Berriasian-Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Fossil material found from the Annero and Jydegård Formations in Skåne, Sweden and on the island of Bornholm, Denmark, have been referred to as a mesoeucrocodylian, and possibly represent the genus Pholidosaurus.
Sebecus is an extinct genus of sebecid crocodylomorph from Eocene of South America. Fossils have been found in among others Patagonia. Like other sebecosuchians, it was entirely terrestrial and carnivorous. The genus is currently represented by two species, the type S. icaeorhinus and S. ayrampu. Several other species have been referred to Sebecus, but were later reclassified as their own genera.
Comahuesuchidae is a family of notosuchian crocodyliforms. Constructed in 1991, it includes the genera Comahuesuchus and Anatosuchus. Among the characteristics that are unique to this family is an external naris that is inset into the tip of the snout. There is also a diastema, or gap between the teeth, at the tip of the upper and lower jaws. Both Anatosuchus and Comahuesuchus have maxillary tooth rows in the upper jaw that extend out and over the dentary tooth rows of the lower jaw.
Sebecosuchia is an extinct group of mesoeucrocodylian crocodyliforms that includes the families Sebecidae and Baurusuchidae. The group was long thought to have first appeared in the Late Cretaceous with the baurusuchids and become extinct in the Miocene with the last sebecids, but Razanandrongobe pushes the origin of Sebecosuchia to the Middle Jurassic. Fossils have been found primarily from South America but have also been found in Europe, North Africa, Madagascar, and the Indian subcontinent.
Ischyrochampsa is an extinct genus of Late Cretaceous mesoeucrocodylian belonging to the eusuchian clade Allodaposuchidae. Fossils of the type species I. meridionalis are late Campanian in age and were found in the commune of Saint-Estève-Janson in Bouches-du-Rhône, France. Material is also known from Spain. At an estimated length of over 4 metres (13 ft), Ischyrochampsa was a large mesoeucrocodylian. It was named and described in 1995.
Wanosuchus is an extinct genus of sebecosuchian mesoeucrocodylian known from Paleocene-age rocks of southern Anhui, China. It is based on IVPP V 6262, a nearly complete lower jaw, which is also the only known specimen. The bone lacks an external mandibular fenestra and has thirteen teeth, the longest of which are the fourth and eleventh. It was collected between 1970 and 1972 by Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) personnel; the exact location and rock unit that produced the bone are uncertain. Wanosuchus was named in 1981 by Zhang Fakui of the IVPP. The type species is W. atresus, a reference to the absent fenestra. Zhang classified Wanosuchus under its own family within Sebecosuchia, Wanosuchidae. It shares some characteristics with Doratodon, a crocodyliform from the Late Cretaceous of Europe.
Paluxysuchus is an extinct genus of neosuchian crocodyliform known from the Early Cretaceous Twin Mountains Formation of north-central Texas. It contains a single species, Paluxysuchus newmani. Paluxysuchus is one of three crocodyliforms known from the Early Cretaceous of Texas, the others being Pachycheilosuchus and an unnamed species referred to as the "Glen Rose Form". Paluxysuchus has a long, flat skull that is probably transitional between the long and narrow skulls of many early neosuchians and the short and flat skulls of later neosuchians.
Lavocatchampsa is an extinct genus of notosuchian mesoeucrocodylian known from the Late Cretaceous Kem Kem Beds in Morocco. It contains a single species, Lavocatchampsa sigogneaurusselae.
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