Mahajangasuchus
Encyclopedia
Mahajangasuchus is an extinct genus
of crocodyliform which had blunt, conical teeth. The type species
, M. insignis, lived during the Late Cretaceous
; its fossils have been found in the Maevarano Formation
in northern Madagascar
.
Sereno
et al.. (2001) placed the genus within the family Trematochampsidae
, although a more recent study by Turner and Calvo (2005) placed it within Peirosauridae
. It was placed in the newly constructed family Mahajangasuchidae
along with the genus Kaprosuchus
by Sereno and Larrson (2009).
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 crocodyliform which had blunt, conical teeth. 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...
, M. insignis, lived during 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...
; its fossils have been found in the Maevarano Formation
Maevarano Formation
The Maevarano Formation is an Upper Cretaceous sedimentary rock formation found in the Mahajanga Province of northwestern Madagascar. It is most likely Maastrichtian in age, and records a seasonal, semiarid environment with rivers that had greatly varying discharges...
in northern Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
.
Paul Sereno
Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger...
et al.. (2001) placed the genus within the family Trematochampsidae
Trematochampsidae
Trematochampsidae is an extinct family of mesoeucrocodylian crocodylomorph. Fossils are present from Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Argentina, and Brazil...
, although a more recent study by Turner and Calvo (2005) placed it within Peirosauridae
Peirosauridae
Peirosauridae is a Gondwanan family of mesoeucrocodylians that lived during the Cretaceous period. It was a clade of terrestrial crocodyliforms that evolved a rather dog-like form, and were terrestrial carnivores. It was phylogenetically defined in 2004 as the most recent common ancestor of...
. It was placed in the newly constructed family Mahajangasuchidae
Mahajangasuchidae
Mahajangasuchidae is an extinct family of neosuchian crocodyliforms. It currently contains two genera, Mahajangasuchus and Kaprosuchus, both of which lived during the Late Cretaceous in Gondwana...
along with the genus Kaprosuchus
Kaprosuchus
Kaprosuchus is an extinct genus of mahajangasuchid crocodyliform. It is known from a single nearly complete skull collected from the Upper Cretaceous Echkar Formation of Niger. The name means "boar crocodile" from the Greek kapros and souchos in reference to its unusually large caniniform teeth...
by Sereno and Larrson (2009).
External links
- Turner, Alan H. (2004). "Crocodyliform biogeography during the Cretaceous: evidence of Gondwanan vicariance from biogeographical analysis". Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 271: 2003-2009 DOI 10.1098/rspb.2004.2840