Iharkutosuchus

Iharkutosuchus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Santonian
Holotype skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: Crocodylomorpha
Family: Hylaeochampsidae
Genus: Iharkutosuchus
Ősi et al., 2007
Type species
Iharkutosuchus makadii
Ősi et al., 2007

Iharkutosuchus ("Iharkút crocodile", after where it was found) is an extinct genus of basal eusuchian crocodyliform. It fossils have been found in the Santonian-age Upper Cretaceous Csehbánya Formation in the Bakony Mountains of western Hungary. It is based on MTM 2006.52.1, a nearly complete skull, and several other partial skulls, isolated skull bones, and numerous teeth are also known. Iharkutosuchus was a small crocodyliform (skull length 11.1 centimetres (4.4 in), estimated body length 0.8 metres (2.6 ft)). Its skull was low, and the snout was short. Iharkutosuchus is unusual in its heterodonty: some of its teeth were complex and multicusped, like mammal teeth. The structure of the skull indicates that it could grind food with a mobile lower jaw, and together with the teeth suggest a diet of fibrous plant material. The genus was described in 2007 by Attila Ősi and colleagues. The type species is I. makadii, for László Makádi.[1]

References

  1. Ősi, Attila; Clark, James M.; Weishampel, David B. (2007). "First report on a new eusuchian crocodyliform with multicusped teeth from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) of Hungary". Neues Jarbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen 243 (2): 169–177. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2007/0243-0169.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, August 06, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.