Journal article
A pug-nosed crocodyliform from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar
Nature (London), Vol.405(6789), pp.941-944
06/22/2000
DOI: 10.1038/35016061
PMID: 10879533
Abstract
Although the image of crocodyliforms as 'unchanged living fossils'
is naive, several morphological features of the group are thought to have
varied only within narrow limits during the course of evolution.
These include an elongate snout with an array of conical teeth, a dorsoventrally
flattened skull and a posteriorly positioned jaw articulation, which provides
a powerful bite force. Here we report an exquisitely preserved specimen of
a new taxon from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar that deviates profoundly
from this Bauplan, possessing an extremely blunt snout, a tall, rounded skull,
an anteriorly shifted jaw joint and clove-shaped, multicusped teeth reminiscent
of those of some ornithischian dinosaurs. This last feature implies that the
diet of the new taxon may have been predominantly if not exclusively herbivorous.
A close relationship with notosuchid crocodyliforms, particularly Uruguaysuchus
(Late Cretaceous, Uruguay) is suggested by several shared
derived features; this supports a biogeographical hypothesis that Madagascar
and South America were linked during the Late Cretaceous .
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- A pug-nosed crocodyliform from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar
- Creators
- Gregory A Buckley - Roosevelt UniversityChristopher A Brochu - Field Museum of Natural HistoryDavid W Krause - State University of New YorkDiego Pol - American Museum of Natural History
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Nature (London), Vol.405(6789), pp.941-944
- DOI
- 10.1038/35016061
- PMID
- 10879533
- ISSN
- 0028-0836
- eISSN
- 1476-4687
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 06/22/2000
- Academic Unit
- Earth and Environmental Sciences; University College Courses
- Record Identifier
- 9984229166202771
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