A new baurusuchid (Crocodyliformes, Mesoeucrocodylia) from the late cretaceous of Brazil and the phylogeny of Baurusuchidae.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Baurusuchidae is a group of extinct Crocodyliformes with peculiar, dog-faced skulls, hypertrophied canines, and terrestrial, cursorial limb morphologies. Their importance for crocodyliform evolution and biogeography is widely recognized, and many new taxa have been recently described. In most phylogenetic analyses of Mesoeucrocodylia, the entire clade is represented only by Baurusuchus pachecoi, and no work has attempted to study the internal relationships of the group or diagnose the clade and its members.

Methodology/principal findings

Based on a nearly complete skull and a referred partial skull and lower jaw, we describe a new baurusuchid from the Vale do Rio do Peixe Formation (Bauru Group), Late Cretaceous of Brazil. The taxon is diagnosed by a suite of char

SUBMITTER: Montefeltro FC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3135595 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature