Brachyuranochampsa
Temporal range: Middle Eocene, 56–33.9 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Clade: Archosauriformes
Order: Crocodilia
Genus: †Brachyuranochampsa
Zangerl, 1944
Species
  • †B. eversolei Zangerl, 1944 (type)

Brachyuranochampsa is an extinct genus of crocodilian.

The only robust occurrence of Brachyuranochampsa is B. eversolei from the Middle Eocene of Wyoming.[1] Another species, B. zangerli from the lower Bridger Formation at Grizzly Buttes, has been synonymized with another primitive crocodilian, "Crocodylus" affinis, also known from the Bridger Formation.[2][3]

Phylogenetic studies have consistently recovered Brachyuranochampsa as more basal than the crown group Crocodylidae, which consists of all extant (living) crocodiles.[2][4]

The below cladogram from a 2018 study combining morphological data and molecular DNA evidence shows the placement of Brachyuranochampsa within Crocodylia.[5]

Crocodylia

Alligatoroidea

Prodiplocynodon†

Asiatosuchus germanicus†

"Crocodylus" affinis†

"Crocodylus" depressifrons†

"Crocodylus" acer†

Brachyuranochampsa eversolei†

Mekosuchinae

Longirostres
Crocodyloidea

"Crocodylus" megarhinus†

Crocodylidae

Gavialoidea

extinct basal Gavialoids†

Gavialidae

Gavialis

Tomistoma

References

  1. ^ Zangerl, R. (1944). Brachyuranochampsa eversolei, gen. et sp. nov., a new crocodilian from the Washakie beds of Wyoming. Annals of Carnegie Museum, 30:77-84
  2. ^ a b Brochu, C. A. (1997). "Morphology, fossils, divergence timing, and the phylogenetic relationships of Gavialis". Systematic Biology. 46 (3): 479–522. doi:10.1093/sysbio/46.3.479.
  3. ^ Brochu, C. A. (2000). "Phylogenetic relationships and divergence timing of Crocodylus based on morphology and the fossil record". Copeia. 2000 (3): 657–673. doi:10.1643/0045-8511(2000)000[0657:pradto]2.0.co;2.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Michael S. Y. Lee; Adam M. Yates (27 June 2018). "Tip-dating and homoplasy: reconciling the shallow molecular divergences of modern gharials with their long fossil". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 285 (1881). doi:10.1098/rspb.2018.1071. PMC 6030529. PMID 30051855.

External links

Extinct crocodilians
Taxon identifiers
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