Gavialosuchus

Gavialosuchus is an extinct tomistomine from the early Miocene of Europe.

Gavialosuchus
Temporal range: Early Miocene
Gavialosuchus eggenburgensis skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Crocodilia
Family: Gavialidae
Subfamily: Tomistominae
Genus: †Gavialosuchus
Toula and Kail, 1885
Species
  • †G. eggenburgensis Toula and Kail, 1885 (type)

Taxonomy

The type species, G. eggenburgensis, is known from the early Miocene of Austria.

Myrick Jr. (2001) proposed synonymizing Gavialosuchus americanus with Thecachampsa antiqua.[1] Piras et al. (2007) advocated transferring both G. americanus and G. carolinensis to Thecachampsa as distinct species of the latter genus, however.[2] Jouve et al. (2008) retained G. americanus in Gavialosuchus and found it to be the sister group of G. eggenburgensis (G. carolinensis was not discussed).[3] However, Jouve et al. (2008) didn't test Thecachampsa antiqua in their phylogenetic analysis. Shan et al. (2009) found that G. americanus and G. eggenburgensis are not sister taxa. However, they didn't include T. antiqua and G. carolinensis in their analysis.[4] Christopher A. Brochu and Glenn W. Storrs (2012) tested all four species, along with other crocodyloids, and found relatively strong support for Piras et al. (2007) suggestion.[5] Weems (2018) agreed with Piras et al. (2007) and Brochu & Storrs (2012) at americanus and carolinensis are part of Thecachampsa.[6]

Ecology

Unlike its modern fresh water relatives, Gavialosuchus was an estuarine and coastal water crocodilian, living in shallow marine waters.

References
  1. Myrick, A.C. Jr. (2001). "Thecachampsa antiqua (Leidy, 1852) (Crocodylidae: Thoracosaurinae) from the fossil marine deposits at Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA". Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 90: 219–225.
  2. Piras, P.; Delfino, M.; Del Favero, L.; Kotsakis, T. (2007). "Phylogenetic position of the crocodylian Megadontosuchus arduini and tomistomine palaeobiogeography" (pdf). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 52 (2): 315–328.
  3. Jouve, Stéphane; Bardet, Nathalie; Jalil, Nour-Eddine; Suberbiola, Xabier Pereda; Bouya; Baâda; Amaghzaz, Mbarek (2008). "The oldest African crocodylian: phylogeny, paleobiogeography, and differential survivorship of marine reptiles through the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 28 (2): 409–421. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2008)28[409:TOACPP]2.0.CO;2.
  4. Shan, Hsi-yin; Wu, Xiao-chun; Cheng, Yen-nien; Sato, Tamaki (2009). "A new tomistomine (Crocodylia) from the Miocene of Taiwan". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 46 (7): 529–555. doi:10.1139/E09-036.
  5. Brochu, C. A.; Storrs, G. W. (2012). "A giant crocodile from the Plio-Pleistocene of Kenya, the phylogenetic relationships of Neogene African crocodylines, and the antiquity of Crocodylus in Africa". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (3): 587. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.652324.
  6. Robert E. Weems (2018). "Crocodilians of the Calvert Cliffs". Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 100: 213–240. doi:10.5479/si.1943-6688.100.


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