Microsuchus is an extinct genus of mesoeucrocodylians, belonging to Notosuchia.[1] Fossils have been found in the Bajo de la Carpa Formation, dating to the Santonian stage of the Late Cretaceous.[2]
| Microsuchus Temporal range: Santonian
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauria |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Clade: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Clade: | Crocodyliformes |
| Clade: | †Notosuchia |
| Genus: | †Microsuchus De Saez, 1928 |
| Type species | |
| †Microsuchus schilleri De Saez, 1928
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Classification
editOriginally classified as a goniopholidid on the basis of the platycoelous vertebral centra,[3] Microsuchus was recently redescribed and recovered as either a neosuchian or notosuchian. Diagnostic features include the presence of a bulge lateral to the prezygapophyses of the second sacral vertebra, elongated posterior zeugopodia, and proximal caudal centra with a triangular cross section.[4] A 2017 cladistic analysis of Razanandrongobe further clarified the phylogenetic position of Microsuchus by recovering it as a primitive notosuchian.[5]
References
edit- ^ Mook, C. C. (1934). "The evolution and classification of the crocodilia". The Journal of Geology. 42 (3): 295–304. Bibcode:1934JG.....42..295M. doi:10.1086/624165. S2CID 128568052.
- ^ Markwick, P. J. (1998). "Crocodilian diversity in space and time: The role of climate in paleoecology and its implication for understanding K/T extinctions". Paleobiology. 24 (4): 470–497. Bibcode:1998Pbio...24..470M. doi:10.1017/S009483730002011X. JSTOR 2401182.
- ^ Saez, M. D. d. (1928). "Un nuevo goniofolido Argentino". Anales de la Sociedad Cientifica Argentina, Buenos Aires. 105: 287–290.
- ^ Leardi, Juan Martín; Fiorelli, Lucas E.; Gasparini, Zulma (2015). "Redescription and reevaluation of the taxonomical status of Microsuchus schilleri (Crocodyliformes: Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Neuquén, Argentina". Cretaceous Research. 52: 153–166. Bibcode:2015CrRes..52..153L. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2014.09.007. hdl:11336/124599.
- ^ Dal Sasso C, Pasini G, Fleury G, Maganuco S. (2017) Razanandrongobe sakalavae, a gigantic mesoeucrocodylian from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar, is the oldest known notosuchian. PeerJ 5:e3481 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3481
External links
edit- Microsuchus in the Paleobiology Database
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