Lorosuchus

Lorosuchus
Temporal range: Paleocene, 55.8–61.7 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: Crocodylomorpha
Suborder: Notosuchia
Branch: Sebecosuchia
Clade: Sebecia
Family: Sebecidae
Genus: Lorosuchus
Pol & Powell, 2011
Type species
Lorosuchus nodosus
Pol & Powell, 2011

Lorosuchus is an extinct genus of sebecid mesoeucrocodylian known from Tucumán Province of north-western Argentina.[1]

Discovery

Lorosuchus is known from the holotype PVL 6219, a nearly complete skull found articulated with the lower jaws and fragmentary postcranial remains. It was collected at the southern end of Medina Range, near the El Cadillal Lake from the Rio Loro Formation, dating to the Thanetian or the Selandian stage of the middle-late Palaeocene, about 55.8-61.7 million years ago. Lorosuchus is characterized by a unique combination of characters, including five autapomorphies such as an elevated narial rim and the presence of a crest on the anteromedial margins of both premaxillae. Phylogenetically, Lorosuchus is currently recognized as the basalmost known sebecid.[1]

Etymology

Lorosuchus was named by Diego Pol and Jaime E. Powell in 2011 and the type species is Lorosuchus nodosus. The generic name is derived from Loro in reference to the Río Loro Formation in which Lorosuchus was found, and suchus, Latinized from the Greek souchos, an Egyptian crocodile god. The specific name named after the particular ornamentation of the dorsal surface of the skull, which resembles the non-related, basal archosauriform Proterochampsa.[1]

Classification

Below is a cladogram from Pol and Powell (2011) showing the placement of Lorosuchus within Sebecosuchia:[1]




Chimaerasuchus



Sphagesaurus



Sebecosuchia

Pehuenchesuchus




Cynodontosuchus


Baurusuchidae


Pabwehshi



Stratiotosuchus





Baurusuchus pachecoi



Baurusuchus salgadoensis





Bergisuchidae

Bergisuchus


Iberosuchidae

Iberosuchus


Sebecidae

Lorosuchus




Barinasuchus





Ayllusuchus



Bretesuchus





Lumbrera form



Langstonia



Sebecus



Zulmasuchus










References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Diego Pol and Jaime E. Powell (2011). "A new sebecid mesoeucrocodylian from the Rio Loro Formation (Palaeocene) of north-western Argentina". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 163: S7–S36. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00714.x.
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