Comahuesuchus
Encyclopedia
Comahuesuchus is an extinct genus
of notosuchia
n crocodylomorph
from the Late Cretaceous
of Argentina
. It was described by palaeontologist José Bonaparte
in 1991.
The type species
is C. brachybuccalis.
The holotype
of C. brachybuccalis is MUCPv-202.
are both comahuesuchids, but work by Martinelli and Andrade et al. (2006), has suggested that A. minor is not a comahuesuchid. Comahuesuchus seems instead to be more closely related to Mariliasuchus
.
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 crocodylomorph
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...
from the Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
of 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...
. It was described by palaeontologist José Bonaparte
José Bonaparte
José Fernando Bonaparte, Ph.D. , is an Argentine paleontologist who discovered a plethora of South American dinosaurs and mentored a new generation of Argentine paleontologists like Rodolfo Coria...
in 1991.
The type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
is C. brachybuccalis.
Material
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
of C. brachybuccalis is MUCPv-202.
Systematics
Comahuesuchus is the name-sake of the clade Comahuesuchidae. Sereno et al. (2003) suggested that Comahuesuchus and AnatosuchusAnatosuchus
Anatosuchus is an extinct genus of notosuchian crocodylomorph discovered in Gadoufaoua, Niger, and described by a team of palaeontologists led by the American Paul Sereno in 2003, in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology...
are both comahuesuchids, but work by Martinelli and Andrade et al. (2006), has suggested that A. minor is not a comahuesuchid. Comahuesuchus seems instead to be more closely related to 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....
.