Metasuchia

Metasuchia is a major clade within the superorder Crocodylomorpha. It is split into two main groups, Notosuchia and Neosuchia.[1] Notosuchia is an extinct group that contains primarily small-bodied Cretaceous taxa with heterodont dentition. Neosuchia includes the extant crocodylians and basal taxa, such as peirosaurids and pholidosaurids. It is phylogenetically defined by Sereno et al. (2001) as a clade containing Notosuchus terrestris, Crocodylus niloticus, and all descendants of their common ancestor.[2]

Metasuchians Temporal range: Early Jurassic - Recent, 196.5–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skull of Sebecus icaeorhinus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Crocodyliformes
Clade:	Mesoeucrocodylia
Clade:	Metasuchia Benton and Clark, 1988
Clades
†Ziphosuchia Neosuchia

Phylogenetics

Metasuchia	Notosuchia       Anatosuchus         Barcinosuchus     Itasuchus       Miadanasuchus     Trematochampsa     Caririsuchus         Mahajangasuchidae     Peirosauridae         Neosuchia

The phylogeny of basal metasuchians has experienced many revisions in recent years.[1] The phylogeny of notosuchians has been particularly revised, with the construction of Sebecia by Larsson and Sues (2007) to include peirosaurids in the clade.[3] Previously, peirosaurids were placed outside Notosuchia. Larsson and Sues (2007) also suggested that Sebecosuchia (containing the families Baurusuchidae and Sebecidae) was polyphyletic, as Baurusuchus was placed outside Sebecia, which itself was placed outside Notosuchia. However, more recent phylogenetic studies have placed Baurusuchus within Notosuchia once again, although it is still not considered to be a sebecosuchian.[1]

In 2012, a phylogenetic study was done to produce supertrees of Crocodyliformes, including 184 species.[4] The most parsimonious trees were highly resolved, meaning the phylogenetic relationships found in the analysis were highly likely. As such, below is the consensus tree from the study, focusing on the Metasuchian branch of the tree.

Metasuchia

Notosuchia     Araripesuchus wegeneri       Araripesuchus tsangatsangana     Araripesuchus buitreraensis       Araripesuchus patagonicus     Araripesuchus gomesii               Uruguaysuchus terrai     Uruguaysuchus aznarezi         Libycosuchus brevirostris       Simosuchus clarki         Malawisuchus mwakasyungutiensis     Candidodon itapecuruense           Notosuchus terrestris       Comahuesuchus brachybuccalis       Mariliasuchus amarali       Yacarerani boliviensis     Pakasuchus kapilimai     Adamantinasuchus navae               Stratiotosuchus maxhechti     Pehuenchesuchus enderi     Pabwehshi pakistanensis     Iberosuchus macrodon     Eremosuchus elkoholicus     Doratodon     Bergisuchus dietrichbergi     Baurusuchus salgadoensis     Baurusuchus pachechoi       Chimaerasuchus paradoxus       Sphagesaurus huenei     Sphagesaurus montealtensis             Sebecus huilensis     Sebecus icaeorhinus         Itaborai Croc     Bretesuchus bonapartei                         Anatosuchus minor         Barcinosuchus gradilis     Itasuchus jesuinoi       Miadanasuchus oblita     Trematochampsa taqueti     Caririsuchus camposi       Mahajangasuchidae   Kaprosuchus saharicus     Mahajangasuchus insignis     Peirosauridae   Hamadasuchus rebouli       Montealtosuchus arrudacamposi     Uberabasuchus terrificus       Peirosaurus torminni     Lomasuchus palpebrosus               Neosuchia

References

1. Sereno, P. C.; Larsson, H. C. E. (2009). "Cretaceous crocodyliforms from the Sahara". ZooKeys. 28 (2009): 1–143. doi:10.3897/zookeys.28.325.
2. Sereno, P. C.; Larsson, H. C. E.; Sidor, C. A.; Gado, B. (2001). "The giant crocodyliform Sarcosuchus from the Cretaceous of Africa". Science. 294 (5546): 1516–1519. doi:10.1126/science.1066521. PMID 11679634.
3. Larsson, H. C. E.; Sues, H.-D. (2007). "Cranial osteology and phylogenetic relationships of Hamadasuchus rebouli (Crocodyliformes: Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Cretaceous of Morocco". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 149: 533–567. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2007.00271.x.
4. Bronzati, M.; Montefeltro, F. C.; Langer, M. C. (2012). "A species-level supertree of Crocodyliformes". Historical Biology: 1. doi:10.1080/08912963.2012.662680.

External links

• Metasuchia in the Paleobiology Database