Brillanceausuchus

Brillanceausuchus
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: Crocodylomorpha
Family: †Atoposauridae
Genus: †Brillanceausuchus
Michard, de Broin, Brunet & Hell, 1990
Type species
†Brillanceausuchus babouriensis
Michard, de Broin, Brunet & Hell, 1990

Brillanceausuchus is an extinct genus of atoposaurid crocodylomorph. Fossils have been found in Early Cretaceous–age rocks of Cameroon.[1] The genus is notable for the position of the secondary choana within its palate. Parts of the pterygoid bones make up the rostral margin of the choana and thus separate it from the palatines, a feature also seen in the more advanced neosuchian suborder Eusuchia.[2] This characteristic was once thought to be characteristic of Eusuchia, but its presence in Brillanceausuchus suggests that the trait is homoplasic, thus making the evolution of the position of the choana within crocodilians more complex than previously thought.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Michard, J., F. de Broin, and M. B. et Joseph Hell (1990). Le plus ancien crocodilien néosuchien spécialisé à caractères “eusuchiens” du continent Africain (Crétacé inférieur, Cameroun). Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences Paris, 311:(II). 365–371.
  2. ↑ Salisbury, S. W.; Molnar, R. E.; Frey, E.; Willis, P. M. A. (2006). "The origin of modern crocodyliforms: new evidence from the Cretaceous of Australia". Proceedings. Biological sciences / the Royal Society. 273 (1600): 2439–2448. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3613.
  3. ↑ Buscalioni, A. D.; Ortega, F.; Weishampel, D. B.; Jianu, C. M. (2001). "A revision of the Crocodyliform Allodaposuchus precedens from the upper Cretaceous of the Hateg Basin, Romania. Its relevance in the phylogeny of Eusuchia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 21 (1): 74–86. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021[0074:AROTCA]2.0.CO;2.


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