Suchia
Encyclopedia
Suchia is a clade
of archosaur
s that includes all pseudosuchia
ns except ornithosuchids
. It includes crocodilia
ns and their extinct relatives. Paul Sereno
defined Suchia as the least inclusive clade containing Aetosaurus ferratus
, Rauisuchus tiradentes
, Prestosuchus chiniquensis
, Gracilisuchus stipanicicorum
, and Crocodylus niloticus (the living Nile crocodile). Suchia, therefore, is a node-based taxon. It includes crocodylomorphs and more basal
Triassic
forms like aetosaur
s and rauisuchia
ns.
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
of archosaur
Archosaur
Archosaurs are a group of diapsid amniotes whose living representatives consist of modern birds and crocodilians. This group also includes all extinct non-avian dinosaurs, many extinct crocodilian relatives, and pterosaurs. Archosauria, the archosaur clade, is a crown group that includes the most...
s that includes all pseudosuchia
Pseudosuchia
Pseudosuchia is the name originally given to a group of prehistoric reptiles from the Triassic period. The name has been variously interpreted, and it is still sometimes, if infrequently, used in scientific literature today. A more commonly used name, Crurotarsi, is often substituted for...
ns except ornithosuchids
Ornithosuchidae
Ornithosuchidae is an extinct family of reptiles from the Triassic period that were distantly related to crocodilians. They are classified as crurotarsan archosaurs. Ornithosuchids were quadrupedal and facultatively bipedal, meaning they had the ability to walk on two legs for short periods of time...
. It includes crocodilia
Crocodilia
Crocodilia is an order of large reptiles that appeared about 84 million years ago in the late Cretaceous Period . They are the closest living relatives of birds, as the two groups are the only known survivors of the Archosauria...
ns and their extinct relatives. Paul Sereno
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...
defined Suchia as the least inclusive clade containing Aetosaurus ferratus
Aetosaurus
Aetosaurus is an extinct genus of archosaur reptile belonging to the order Aetosauria. It is generally considered to be the most primitive aetosaur. Three species are currently recognized: A. ferratus, the type species from Germany and Italy; A. crassicauda from Germany; and A. arcuatus from...
, Rauisuchus tiradentes
Rauisuchus
Rauisuchus was a basal archosaur which lived in what is now the Geopark of Paleorrota, Brazil, during the middle Triassic period . Named after fossil collector Dr. Wilhelm Rau, Rauisuchus belonged to a group of land-dwelling relatives to crocodiles...
, Prestosuchus chiniquensis
Prestosuchus
Prestosuchus is an extinct genus of a group of rauisuchians called prestosuchids. Friedrich von Huene named the genus in honor of Vicentino Prestes de Almeida....
, Gracilisuchus stipanicicorum
Gracilisuchus
Gracilisuchus is an extinct genus of tiny crurotarsan from the Middle Triassic. It was a suchian close to the ancestry of crocodiles, and was at one time thought to be a dinosaur, but this hypothesis has since been rejected...
, and Crocodylus niloticus (the living Nile crocodile). Suchia, therefore, is a node-based taxon. It includes crocodylomorphs and more basal
Basal (phylogenetics)
In phylogenetics, a basal clade is the earliest clade to branch in a larger clade; it appears at the base of a cladogram.A basal group forms an outgroup to the rest of the clade, such as in the following example:...
Triassic
Triassic
The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...
forms like aetosaur
Aetosaur
Aetosaurs are an extinct order of heavily armoured, medium- to large-sized Late Triassic herbivorous archosaurs. They have small heads, upturned snouts, erect limbs, and a body covered by plate-like scutes. All aetosaurs belong to the family Stagonolepididae...
s and rauisuchia
Rauisuchia
Rauisuchia is a group of predatory and mostly large Triassic archosaurs. As a clade, Rauisuchia includes these Triassic forms and all crocodylomorphs, which are descendants of Triassic rauisuchians. The group in its traditional sense is paraphyletic, because it does not include crocodylomorph...
ns.
External links
- Suchia in the Paleobiology DatabasePaleobiology Database' is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms.-History:The Paleobiology Database was founded in 2000. It has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Australian Research Council...