Notosuchia

Notosuchia

Opisthokonta

Notosuchia
Temporal range: Early CretaceousLate Cretaceous, 110–65 Ma
Anatosuchus
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: Crocodylomorpha
clade: Metasuchia
Suborder: Notosuchia
Gasparini, 1971
Families

Notosuchia is a suborder of primarily Gondwanan mesoeucrocodylian crocodylomorphs that lived during the Cretaceous. Fossils have been found from South America, Africa, and Asia. 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.[1]

Contents

Description

Notosuchians were generally small, with slender bodies and erect limbs. The most distinctive characteristics are usually seen in the skull. Notosuchian skulls are generally short and deep. While most are relatively narrow, some are very broad. Simosuchus has a broadened skull and jaw that resembles a pug, while Anatosuchus has a broad, flat snout like that of a duck.

The teeth vary greatly between different genera. Many have heterodont dentitions that vary in shape across the jaw. Often, there are large canine-like teeth protruding from the front of the mouth and broader molar-like teeth in the back. Some genera, such as Yacarerani and Pakasuchus, have extremely mammal-like teeth. Their molars are complex and multicuspid, and are able to occlude or fit with one another. Some forms such as Malawisuchus had jaw joints that enabled them to move the jaw back and forth in a shearing motion rather than just up and down.

A derived group of notosuchians, the baurusuchids, differ considerably from other forms. They are very large in comparison to other notosuchians and are exclusively carnivorous. Baurusuchids have deep skulls and prominent canine-like teeth.

Classification

Taxonomy

Genera

The evolutionary interrelationships of Notosuchia are in flux, but the following genera are generally considered notosuchians:

Genus Age Location Unit Notes Images

Adamantinasuchus

Turonian - Santonian

 Brazil

Adamantina Formation

A carnivore with a very short, high skull and large eye sockets

Adamantinasuchus BW.jpg

Anatosuchus

Aptian - Albian

 Niger

Tegama Group

A small notosuchian under 1 metre (3.3 ft) long with a duck-like snout

Anatosuchus.jpg

Araripesuchus

Albian - Maastrichtian

 Madagascar
 Niger
 Brazil
 Argentina

Maevarano Formation
Echkar Formation
Santana Formation
Candeleros Formation

Five species are known, the most of any notosuchian

Araripesuchus wegeneri.jpg

Armadillosuchus

Turonian - Santonian

 Brazil

Adamantina Formation

A sphagesaurid with armadillo-like armor shields. Armadillosuchus.jpg

Baurusuchus

Turonian

 Brazil

Adamantina Formation

A large hypercarnivore 3.5 to 4 metres (11 to 13 ft) in length

Baurusuchus BW.jpg

Caipirasuchus

Turonian – Santonian

 Brazil

Adamantina Formation

Campinasuchus

Turonian – Santonian

 Brazil

Adamantina Formation

Candidodon

Albian

 Brazil

Itapecuru Formation

Chimaerasuchus

Aptian - Albian

 China

Wulong Formation

The first notosuchian found with heterodont teeth, thought to be a herbivore

Comahuesuchus

Santonian

 Argentina

Bajo de la Carpa Formation

Comahuesuchus BW.jpg

Cynodontosuchus

Coniacian – Santonian

 Argentina

Bajo de la Carpa Formation
Pichi Picun Leufu Formation

Malawisuchus

Early Cretaceous

 Malawi

A possible burrower that could move its jaw back and forth while eating

Mariliasuchus

Campanian - Maastrichtian

 Brazil

Adamantina Formation

Mariliasuchus BW.jpg

Morrinhosuchus

Turonian - Santonian

 Brazil

Adamantina Formation

Morrinhosuchus.jpg

Notosuchus

Coniacian - Santonian

 Argentina

Bajo de la Carpa Formation

A notosuchian that may have had a pig-like snout

Notosuchus BW.jpg

Pakasuchus

Albian

 Tanzania

A notosuchian with very complex, mammal-like heterodont teeth. Pakasuchus.jpg

Pissarrachampsa

Campanian – Maastrichtian

 Brazil

Vale do Rio do Peixe Formation

Pissarrachampsa sera.png

Simosuchus

Maastrichtian

 Madagascar

A broad-snouted omnivore with clove-shaped teeth Simosuchus clarki skull.jpg

Sphagesaurus

Late Cretaceous

 Brazil

Adamantina Formation

An omnivorous notosuchian

Stratiotosuchus

Turonian – Santonian

 Brazil

Adamantina Formation

Uruguaysuchus

Santonian - Campanian

 Uruguay

Uruguaysuchus BW.jpg

Wargosuchus

Santonian

 Argentina

Bajo de la Carpa Formation

Yacarerani

Turonian - Santonian

 Bolivia

A notosuchian with rabbit-like incisors found in association with a probable nest Yacarerani.jpg

Phylogeny

Cladograms of Notosuchia

Ortega et al., 2000[2]
Notosuchia 

Notosuchus




Libycosuchus




Baurusuchus




Iberosuchus




Sebecus




Itaborai crocodile



Bretesuchus









Pol, 2003[3]
Notosuchia 

Uruguaysuchus




Simosuchus





Malawisuchus



Candidodon





Notosuchus




Comahuesuchus





Chimaerasuchus



Sphagesaurus



 Sebecosuchia 

Baurusuchus




Bretesuchus



Iberosuchus











Larsson and Sues, 2007[4]
Metasuchia 
 Notosuchia

Notosuchus



Malawisuchus





Araripesuchus





Baurusuchus




Neosuchia


 Sebecia 

Pabwehshi



 Sebecidae 

Sebecus



Bretesuchus




Peirosauridae








    Taxa previously assigned to Notosuchia

The clade Notosuchia has undergone many recent phylogenetic revisions. In 2000, Notosuchia was proposed to be one of two groups within the clade Ziphosuchia, the other being Sebecosuchia, which included deep snouted forms such as baurusuchids and sebecids.[2] The definition of Notosuchia by Sereno et al. (2001) is similar to that of Ziphosuchia as it includes within it Sebecosuchia. Pol (2003) also includes Sebecosuchia within Notosuchia.[3] More recently, a phylogenetic analysis by Larsson and Sues (2007) resulted in the naming of a new clade, Sebecia, to include sebecids and peirosaurids.[4] Baurusuchidae was considered to be polyphyletic in this study, with Pabwehshi being a basal member of Sebecia and Baurusuchus being the sister taxon to the clade containing Neosuchia and Sebecia. Thus, Sebecosuchia was no longer within Notosuchia and not considered to be a true clade, while Notosuchia was found to be a basal clade of Metasuchia.

The following cladogram simplified after an analysis of derived notosuchians presented by Fabiano V. Iori and Ismar S. Carvalho in 2011.[5]



Araripesuchus




Uruguaysuchus




Libycosuchus




Simosuchus





Notosuchus




Comahuesuchus




Mariliasuchus




Adamantinasuchus



Yacarerani









Candidodon



Malawisuchus






Chimaerasuchus


Sphagesauridae

Sphagesaurus huenei




Caipirasuchus




Armadillosuchus



"Sphagesaurus" montealtensis








Morrinhosuchus




Baurusuchus



Sebecidae











The following cladogram simplified after a comprehensive analysis of notosuchians which focused on Simosuchus clarki presented by Alan H. Turner and Joseph J. W. Sertich in 2010.[6]

Notosuchia

Anatosuchus




Mahajangasuchidae

Kaprosuchus



Mahajangasuchus



Peirosauridae


Peirosaurus



Lomasuchus





Hamadasuchus




Montealtosuchus



Uberabasuchus








"Araripesuchus" wegeneri




"Araripesuchus" tsangatsangana





Araripesuchus buitreraensis




Araripesuchus patagonicus



Araripesuchus gomesii






Uruguaysuchus


Ziphosuchia


Libycosuchus



Simosuchus





Malawisuchus



Notosuchidae

Notosuchus



Mariliasuchus






Chimaerasuchus




Sphagesaurus huenei



Sphagesaurus montealtensis







Comahuesuchus




Yacarerani




Adamantinasuchus



Armadillosuchus





Sebecosuchia

Baurusuchus



Sebecia














References

  1. ^ Gasparini, Z. (1971). "Los Notosuchia del Cretácico de América del Sur como un nuevo Infraorden de los Mesosuchia (Crocodilia)". Ameghiniana 8: 83–103. 
  2. ^ a b Ortega, F. Z.; Buscalioni, A. D.; and Calvo, J. O. (2000). "A new species of Araripesuchus (Crocodylomorpha, Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Lower Cretaceous of Patagonia (Argentina)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20 (1): 57–76. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0057:ANSOAC]2.0.CO;2. 
  3. ^ a b Pol, D. (2003). "New Remains of Sphagesaurus huenei (Crocodylomorpha: Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23 (4): 817–831. doi:10.1671/A1015-7. 
  4. ^ a b Larsson, H. C. E.; and Sues, H.-D. (2007). "Cranial osteology and phylogenetic relationships of Hamadasuchus rebouli (Crocodyliformes: Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Cretaceous of Morocco". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 149 (4): 533–567. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2007.00271.x. 
  5. ^ Fabiano V. Iori and Ismar S. Carvalho (2011). "Caipirasuchus paulistanus, a new sphagesaurid (Crocodylomorpha, Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Adamantina Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Turonian–Santonian), Bauru Basin, Brazil". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31 (6): 1255–1264. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.602777. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.2011.602777. 
  6. ^ Turner, Alan H.; and Sertich, Joseph J. W. (2010). "Phylogenetic history of Simosuchus clarki (Crocodyliformes: Notosuchia) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30 (6, Memoir 10): 177–236. doi:10.1080/02724634.2010.532348.