Anatosuchus
Encyclopedia
Anatosuchus is an extinct genus
of notosuchia
n crocodylomorph
discovered in Gadoufaoua, Niger
, and described by a team of palaeontologists led by the American
Paul Sereno in 2003, in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
. Its duck-like snout coincidentally makes it resemble a crocoduck
.
material (MNN GDF603), is a nearly complete skull with articulated lower jaws. It was discovered from the upper portion of the Elrhaz Formation
and lower portion of Echkar Formation, indicating an Early Cretaceous
(Late Aptian or Early Albian) age.
In the initial description of Anatosuchus, it formed a clade
with Comahuesuchus
, within a less inclusve Notosuchia
, also found to be monophyletic. However, further work proposed that Anatosuchus is not closely related to Comahuesuchus.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of notosuchia
Notosuchia
Notosuchia is a suborder of primarily Gondwanan mesoeucrocodylian crocodylomorphs that lived during the Cretaceous. Fossils have been found from South America, Africa, and Asia...
n crocodylomorph
Crocodylomorpha
The Crocodylomorpha are an important group of archosaurs that include the crocodilians and their extinct relatives.During Mesozoic and early Tertiary times the Crocodylomorpha were far more diverse than they are now. Triassic forms were small, lightly built, active terrestrial animals. These were...
discovered in Gadoufaoua, Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
, and described by a team of palaeontologists led by the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Paul Sereno in 2003, in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology was founded in 1980 at the University of Oklahoma by Dr. Jiri Zidek. It is a scientific journal that publishes original contributions on all aspects of the vertebrate paleontology, including vertebrate origins, evolution, functional morphology, taxonomy,...
. Its duck-like snout coincidentally makes it resemble a crocoduck
Crocoduck
In a social context, the crocoduck denotes an hybrid animal with the head a of crocodile and the body of a duck, which became recurrent in debates involving creationists and proponents of the theory of evolution, being used as a symbol directed at those who do not understand the basic principles of...
.
Species and discovery
The type species of Anatosuchus is A. minor, in reference to its small body size. The holotypeHolotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
material (MNN GDF603), is a nearly complete skull with articulated lower jaws. It was discovered from the upper portion of the Elrhaz Formation
Elrhaz Formation
The Elrhaz Formation is a geological formation in Niger whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous...
and lower portion of Echkar Formation, indicating an Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous
The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...
(Late Aptian or Early Albian) age.
Systematics
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
with Comahuesuchus
Comahuesuchus
Comahuesuchus is an extinct genus of notosuchian crocodylomorph from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina. It was described by palaeontologist José Bonaparte in 1991.The type species is C. brachybuccalis.- Material :...
, within a less inclusve Notosuchia
Notosuchia
Notosuchia is a suborder of primarily Gondwanan mesoeucrocodylian crocodylomorphs that lived during the Cretaceous. Fossils have been found from South America, Africa, and Asia...
, also found to be monophyletic. However, further work proposed that Anatosuchus is not closely related to Comahuesuchus.