Bretesuchus
Encyclopedia
Bretesuchus is an extinct genus
of sebecosuchia
n mesoeucrocodylia
n within the family
Bretesuchidae
. Fossil
s have been found from the Maíz Gordo Formation of northwestern Argentina
and date back to the late Paleocene
. The highly bent premaxilla
shows that it lies within the suborder Sebecosuchia
, a group of mostly South America
n terrestrial carnivorous crocodylomorphs
with distinctive laterally compressed snouts.
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 sebecosuchia
Sebecosuchia
Sebecosuchia is an extinct group of mesoeucrocodylian crocodyliforms that includes the families Sebecidae and Baurusuchidae. The group first appeared in the Late Cretaceous with the baurusuchids and went extinct in the Miocene with the last sebecids. Fossils have been found primarily from South...
n mesoeucrocodylia
Mesoeucrocodylia
Mesoeucrocodylia is the name of the clade that includes Eusuchia and the paraphyletic group Mesosuchia. The group appeared during the Early Jurassic, and continues to the present day....
n within the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Bretesuchidae
Bretesuchidae
Bretesuchidae is an extinct family of sebecosuchian mesoeucrocodylians from the Paleocene of South America. It includes the genera Bretesuchus and Zulmasuchus. Bretesuchus, the type genus, was named in 1993 from the Late Paleocene Maíz Gordo Formation in northwestern Argentina. The type species of...
. Fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s have been found from the Maíz Gordo Formation of northwestern Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and date back to the late Paleocene
Paleocene
The Paleocene or Palaeocene, the "early recent", is a geologic epoch that lasted from about . It is the first epoch of the Palaeogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era...
. The highly bent premaxilla
Premaxilla
The incisive bone is the portion of the maxilla adjacent to the incisors. It is a pair of small cranial bones at the very tip of the jaws of many animals, usually bearing teeth, but not always. They are connected to the maxilla and the nasals....
shows that it lies within the suborder Sebecosuchia
Sebecosuchia
Sebecosuchia is an extinct group of mesoeucrocodylian crocodyliforms that includes the families Sebecidae and Baurusuchidae. The group first appeared in the Late Cretaceous with the baurusuchids and went extinct in the Miocene with the last sebecids. Fossils have been found primarily from South...
, a group of mostly South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n terrestrial carnivorous crocodylomorphs
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...
with distinctive laterally compressed snouts.