Metasuchia

Clade of reptiles

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

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]

Phylogenetics

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


References

  1. ^ a b c Sereno, P. C.; Larsson, H. C. E. (2009). "Cretaceous crocodyliforms from the Sahara". ZooKeys (28): 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" (PDF). Science. 294 (5546): 1516–1519. Bibcode:2001Sci...294.1516S. doi:10.1126/science.1066521. PMID 11679634. S2CID 22956704.
  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 (4): 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. 24 (6): 598–606. doi:10.1080/08912963.2012.662680. S2CID 53412111.

External links

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Sauropsida
    • see Sauropsida
Archosauromorpha
    • see Archosauromorpha
Pseudosuchia
    • see below↓
Ornithosuchidae
Erpetosuchidae
Aetosauriformes
Aetosauria
    • see Aetosauria
Gracilisuchidae
Paracrocodylomorpha
    • see below↓
Ornithosuchus longidens

Erpetosuchus granti

Gracilisuchus stepanicicorum
Poposauroidea
Ctenosauriscidae
Poposauridae
Shuvosauridae
Loricata
Rauisuchidae
Crocodylomorpha
    • see below↓
Arizonasaurus babbitti

Effigia okeeffeae Saurosuchus galilei

Postosuchus kirkpatricki
Saltoposuchidae
Hallopodidae
Thalattosuchia
    • see Thalattosuchia
Protosuchidae
Notochampsidae
Gobiosuchidae
Shartegosuchoidea
Shartegosuchidae
Metasuchia
Ziphosuchia
Neosuchia
Hesperosuchus agilis

Hoplosuchus kayi

Sichuanosuchus huidongensis
Taxon identifiers
Metasuchia