Bernissartia
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 129.4–125 Ma[1]
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Holotype skeleton of B. fagesii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Clade: Crocodylomorpha
Clade: Crocodyliformes
Clade: Metasuchia
Clade: Neosuchia
Family: †Bernissartiidae
Genus: †Bernissartia
Dollo, 1883
Type species
†Bernissartia fagesii
Dollo, 1883

Bernissartia ('of Bernissart') is an extinct genus of neosuchian crocodyliform that lived in the Early Cretaceous, around 130 million years ago.

Restoration
Lateral view of skull

At only 60 centimetres (2.0 ft) in length, Bernissartia is one of the smallest crocodyliforms that ever lived.[2] It resembled modern species in many respects, and was probably semi-aquatic. It had long, pointed teeth at the front of the jaws that would have been of use in catching fish, but broad and flat teeth at the back of its jaws that were suited for crushing hard food, such as shellfish, and possibly bones.[3]

It is known primarily from skulls and skeletons found in the Sainte-Barbe Clays Formation of Belgium and the Camarillas Formation of Spain. Less complete material has been referred to Bernissartia from the United Kingdom and North America.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ Rio, Jonathan P.; Mannion, Philip D. (6 September 2021). "Phylogenetic analysis of a new morphological dataset elucidates the evolutionary history of Crocodylia and resolves the long-standing gharial problem". PeerJ. 9: e12094. doi:10.7717/peerj.12094. PMC 8428266. PMID 34567843.
  2. ^ a b Jeremy E. Martin, Thierry Smith, Céline Salaviale, Jerôme Adrien & Massimo Delfino (2020). "Virtual reconstruction of the skull of Bernissartia fagesii and current understanding of the neosuchian-eusuchian transition" (PDF). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 18 (13): 1079–1101. doi:10.1080/14772019.2020.1731722. ISSN 1477-2019. S2CID 216464226.((cite journal)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 100. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
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