Candidodon is an extinct genus

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 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. Fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

s have been found of Early Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

 age from Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. The genus is characterized by a particularly elongate pair of choana

Choana

Choana is the posterior nasal aperture.The choanae are separated by the vomer.- Boundaries :It is the opening between the nasal cavity and the nasopharynx....

e in its palate

Palate

The palate is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but, in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly separate. The palate is divided into two parts, the anterior...

. It has been named the type genus

Type genus

In biological classification, a type genus is a representative genus, as with regard to a biological family. The term and concept is used much more often and much more formally in zoology than it is in botany, and the definition is dependent on the nomenclatural Code that applies:* In zoological...

 of 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...

 Candidodontidae

Candidodontidae

Candidodontidae is a family of notosuchian crocodyliforms. It was originally used in 2002 as a name for a clade that includes the genera Araripesuchus, Candidodon, and Malawisuchus. Later in 2004 the family was formally defined as a node-based taxon including Candidodon itapecuruense and...

, first constructed in 2004. It was initially assigned to the family with a proposed sister genus, Mariliasuchus

Mariliasuchus

Mariliasuchus is an extinct genus of Late Cretaceous notosuchian mesoeucrocodylian found near Marilia, Brazil. It was described in 1999 by Brazilian palaeontologists Ismar de Souza Carvalho and Reinaldo J. Bertini....

, but a recent phylogenetic analysis has shown that Mariliasuchus may instead be closer in relation to 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 :...

than to Candidodon and thus a member of the family Comahuesuchidae

Comahuesuchidae

Comahuesuchidae is a family of notosuchian crocodyliforms. Constructed in 1991, it includes the genera Comahuesuchus and Anatosuchus. Among the characteristics that are unique to this family is an external naris that is inset into the tip of the snout. There is also a diastema, or gap between the...

. If this is true, Candidodon would be the only member of the family Candidodontidae.