Anatosuchus

Taxobox
name = "Anatosuchus"
fossil_range = Early Cretaceous

---

image_width = 250px
image_caption = "Anatosuchus minor"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
infraclassis = Archosauromorpha
superordo = Crocodylomorpha
unranked_familia = Mesoeucrocodylia
unranked_familia = Notosuchia
familia = ?Comahuesuchidae
genus = "Anatosuchus"
binomial = "Anatosuchus minor"
binomial_authority = Sereno "et al.", 2003

"Anatosuchus" ("duck crocodile", for the broad, duck-like snout) is an extinct genus of notosuchian crocodylomorph discovered in Gadoufaoua, Niger, and described by a team of palaeontologists led by the American Paul Sereno in 2003, in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

The type species is "A. minor", in reference to its small body size.

Material

Material of "A. minor" comes from the upper portion of the Elrhaz Formation and lower portion of Echkar Formation, indicating an Early Cretaceous (Late Aptian or Early Albian) age.

The holotype is MNN GDF603, a nearly complete skull with articulated lower jaws.

Systematics

Sereno et al. (2003) found "Anatosuchus minor" to form a clade with "Comahuesuchus brachybuccalis", the Comahuesuchidae, included within the less inclusve Notosuchia, also found to be monophyletic. However, further work, first by Martinelli and then by Andrade et al. (2006), proposed that "A. minor" is not closely related to "C. brachybuccalis".

Palaeobiology

As the specific name indicates, "A. minor" was a very small crocodylomorph, with an adult body length estimated at around 70 centimeters. It had a very broad, duck-like snout.

References

* Andrade, M.B.; Bertini, R. J. ; Pinheiro, A. E. P. (2006). Observations on the palate and choanae structures in Mesoeucrocodylia (Archosauria, Crocodylomorpha): phylogenetic implications. "Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia, Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia". 9 (3): 323-332.
* Sereno, P. C., Sidor, C. A., Larsson, H. C. E., and Gado, B. (2003) A new notosuchian from the Early Cretaceous of Niger. "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology" 23 (2): 477-482.

External links

* [http://www.sbpbrasil.org/revista/edicoes/9_3/323a332_Andrade.pdf Andrade et al. (2006)]
* [http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/collections/paleontology/sidor/Anatosuchus.pdf Sereno et al. (2003)]