Pissarrachampsinae

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Pissarrachampsinae
Temporal range: Santonian - Maastrichtian, 83.5–66.5  Ma
Pissarrachampsa sera.png
Skull of Pissarrachampsa sera
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: Pissarrachampsinae
Montefeltro et al., 2011

Pissarrachampsinae is a subfamily of baurusuchid crocodyliforms from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil and Argentina. It was named in 2011 with the description of Pissarrachampsa sera and includes P. sera from Brazil and the related Wargosuchus australis from Argentina. Pissarrachampsinae is one of two subfamilies of Baurusuchidae, the other being Baurusuchinae. [1]

Pissarrachampsines are distinguished from baurusuchines mainly by the shapes of bones on the tops of their skulls. The nasals and frontal touch each other at only a small point on the midline of the skull. The frontal bone, which is positioned directly behind the prefrontals, bears a groove that runs along its midline. Pissarrachampsines also have a pitted depression at the tip of the snout called the circumnarial fossa. The nostril openings are found within this fossa. [1]

Phylogenetically, Pissarrachampsinae is a stem-based taxon. When it was named, Pissarrachampsinae was defined as Pissarrachampsa sera and all crocodyliforms more closely related to it than to Stratiotosuchus maxhechti , Baurusuchus pachecoi , Notosuchus terrestris , Mariliasuchus amarali , Armadillosuchus arrudai , Araripesuchus gomesi , Sebecus icaeorhinus , Bretesuchus bonapartei , Peirosaurus torminni , and Crocodylus niloticus . [1]

The subfamily Pissarrachampsinae may have lasted up to 20 million years. Wargosuchus is known from the Bajo de la Carpa Formation, which is Santonian in age, while Pissarrachampsa is known from the Campanian to Maastrichtian Vale do Rio do Peixe Formation. The age of the Vale do Rio do Peixe Formation may be even older, however, making the span of the family shorter. [1]

Related Research Articles

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

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">Baurusuchidae</span> Extinct family of reptiles

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

Stratiotosuchus is an extinct genus of baurusuchid mesoeucrocodylian from the Adamantina Formation in Brazil. It lived during the Late Cretaceous. The first fossils were found in the 1980s, and the type species Stratiotosuchus maxhechti was named in 2001. A hyperpredator, it and other baurusuchids may have filled niches occupied elsewhere by theropod dinosaurs.

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

Susisuchus is an extinct genus of neosuchian mesoeucrocodylian crocodyliform from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil. Fossils have been found from the Nova Olinda Member of the Aptian-age Crato Formation in the Araripe and Lima Campos Basins of northeastern Brazil. Named in 2003, Susisuchus is the sole member of the family Susisuchidae, and is closely related to the clade Eusuchia, which includes living crocodilians. The type species is S. anatoceps, known from a single partial articulated skeleton that preserves some soft tissue. A second species, S. jaguaribensis, was named in 2009 from fragmentary remains.

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

Campinasuchus is an extinct genus of baurusuchid mesoeucrocodylian from Minas Gerais State of Brazil.

<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">Baurusuchinae</span> Extinct subfamily of reptiles

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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<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.

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

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.

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.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Montefeltro, F.C.; Larsson, H.C.E.; Langer, M.C. (2011). "A new baurusuchid (Crocodyliformes, Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil and the phylogeny of Baurusuchidae". PLOS ONE. 6 (7): e21916. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...621916M. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021916 . PMC   3135595 . PMID   21765925.