Sebecidae

Sebecids Temporal range: Early Paleocene - Late Miocene/Early Pliocene, 65–4.5  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skull of Sebecus icaeorhinus
Skeleton of Ogresuchus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauria
Clade:	Pseudosuchia
Clade:	Crocodylomorpha
Clade:	† Notosuchia
Clade:	† Sebecia
Family:	† Sebecidae Simpson, 1937
Subgroups
† Ayllusuchus † Barinasuchus † Bretesuchus † Dentaneosuchus [1] † Eremosuchus ? † Ilchunaia ? † Langstonia † Lorosuchus † Sahitisuchus † Sebecus † Zulmasuchus
Synonyms
Bretesuchidae Gasparini, Fernandez & Powell, 1993

Sebecidae is an extinct family of prehistoric terrestrial sebecosuchian crocodylomorphs, known from the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic of Europe, South America and the Caribbean. They were the latest surviving group of non-crocodilian crocodylomorphs.

The oldest known member once attributed to the group is Ogresuchus furatus known from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Tremp Formation (Spain). ^[2] But however in a 2026 study suggest that it was no longer a sebecid, but a possible atoposaurid. ^[3] Other records of the group are known from the Eocene of Europe. ^[4] Sebecids were diverse, abundant and broadly distributed in South America (mostly in Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia) during the Cenozoic, from the Paleocene until the Middle Miocene. ^[5] The youngest known sebecids identified as cf. Sebecus sp. are reported from the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene strata of the Dominican Republic. ^[6]

This group included many medium- and large-sized genera, from Sebecus to the giant 6-metre-long (20 ft) Barinasuchus from the Miocene. ^[7] They are thought to have served as apex terrestrial predators of their ecosystems. ^[8]

Phylogeny

Juan Leardi and colleagues in 2024 defined Sebecidae in PhyloCode as "the least inclusive clade containing Sebecus icaeorhinus , Bretesuchus bonapartei , Barinasuchus arveloi , and Sahitisuchus fluminensis ". ^[9] The following cladogram simplified after Diego Pol and Jaime E. Powell (2011). ^[5]

Sebecosuchia	Pehuenchesuchus Cynodontosuchus Baurusuchidae Pabwehshi Stratiotosuchus Baurusuchus pachecoi Baurusuchus salgadoensis Bergisuchidae Bergisuchus Iberosuchidae Iberosuchus Sebecidae Lorosuchus Barinasuchus Ayllusuchus Bretesuchus Lumbrera form Langstonia Sebecus Zulmasuchus

References

1. Martin, J. E.; Pochat-Cottilloux, Y.; Laurent, Y.; Perrier, V.; Robert, E.; Antoine, P.-O. (2023). "Anatomy and phylogeny of an exceptionally large sebecid (Crocodylomorpha) from the middle Eocene of southern France". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 42 (4) e2193828. doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2193828. S2CID   258361595.
2. Sellés, A. G.; Blanco, A.; Vila, B.; Marmi, J.; López-Soriano, F. J.; Llácer, S.; Frigola, J.; Canals, M.; Galobart, À. (2020). "A small Cretaceous crocodyliform in a dinosaur nesting ground and the origin of sebecids". Scientific Reports. 10 (1) 15293. Bibcode:2020NatSR..1015293S. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-71975-y . PMC   7499430 . PMID   32943663.
3. Szegszárdi, M.; Ősi, A.; Rabi, M. (2026). "Cretaceous crocodyliform reconciles conflicting evidence on the Mesozoic paleogeography of Europe during the Gondwana-Laurasia split". Scientific Reports. 16 2842. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-28504-6 .
4. Martin, Jeremy E.; Pochat-Cottilloux, Yohan; Laurent, Yves; Perrier, Vincent; Robert, Emmanuel; Antoine, Pierre-Olivier (2022-10-28). "Anatomy and phylogeny of an exceptionally large sebecid (Crocodylomorpha) from the middle Eocene of southern France" . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 42 (4). Bibcode:2022JVPal..42E3828M. doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2193828. ISSN   0272-4634.
5. Pol, Diego; Powell, Jaime E. (2011). "A new sebecid mesoeucrocodylian from the Rio Loro Formation (Palaeocene) of north-western Argentina". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 163: S7–S36. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00714.x . hdl: 11336/69518 .
6. Viñola López, L. W.; Velez-Juarbe, J.; Münch, P.; Almonte Milan, J. N.; Antoine, P.-O.; Marivaux, L.; Jimenez-Vasquez, O.; Bloch, J. (2025). "A South American sebecid from the Miocene of Hispaniola documents the presence of apex predators in early West Indies ecosystems". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 292 (2045). 20242891. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2024.2891 . PMC   12040450 . PMID   40300627.
7. Salias-Gismondi, R.; Antoine, P. O.; Baby, P.; Brusset, S.; Benammi, M.; Espurt, N.; de Franceschi, D.; Pujos, F.; et al. (2007). Middle Miocene Crocodiles From the Fitzcarrald Arch, Amazonian Peru (PDF). Instituto Geológical y Minero de España. p. 4. ISBN   978-84-7840-707-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
8. Pochat-Cottilloux, Yohan; Martin, Jeremy E.; Faure-Brac, Mathieu G.; Jouve, Stéphane; de Muizon, Christian; Cubo, Jorge; Lécuyer, Christophe; Fourel, François; Amiot, Romain (1 September 2023). "A multi-isotopic study reveals the palaeoecology of a sebecid from the Paleocene of Bolivia". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 625 111667. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111667 . Retrieved 15 November 2024– via Elsevier Science Direct.
9. Leardi, J. M.; Pol, D.; Montefeltro, F.; Marinho, T. S.; Ruiz, J. V.; Bravo, G. G.; Pinheiro, A. E. P.; Godoy, P. L.; Nicholl, C. S. C.; Lecuona, A.; Larsson, H. C. E. (2024). "Phylogenetic nomenclature of Notosuchia (Crocodylomorpha; Crocodyliformes)". Bulletin of Phylogenetic Nomenclature. 1 (3): 44–82. doi: 10.11646/bpn.1.3.2 .

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