Mambawakale

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Mambawakale
Temporal range:
Ma
Holotype skull of Mambawakale
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Clade: Paracrocodylomorpha
Genus: †Mambawakale
Butler et al., 2022
Species:
†M. ruhuhu
Binomial name
†Mambawakale ruhuhu
Butler et al., 2022

Mambawakale is a genus of large sized basal

Manda Beds of Tanzania. It was informally named Pallisteria before being officially published under its current name almost 60 years after its discovery. It contains a single species, Mambawakale ruhuhu.[1]

History and naming

Photos taken during an expedition to the Manda Beds in 1963

In 1963, following the independence of Tanzania,

cervical series and a left manus.[1]

The name Mambawakale is a composite of the

Kiswahili words "mamba" (crocodile) and "wakale" (ancient). The species name refers to the Ruhuhu Basin where the fossils have been found.[1]

Description

Dorsal and ventral view of Mambawakale

Based on a skull length of 75 cm, Mambawakale would have been a large sized

phytosaurs. The shallow dentary contains fifteen to sixteen ziphodont teeth.[1]
The centrum of the axis in Mambawakale is similar to that of Stagonosuchus, making it a possibility that the two taxa may represent the same species. However, the absence of well preserved postcranial material in Mambawakale and well preserved cranial material in Stagonosuchus makes it impossible to make a definitive statement on the matter. Mambawakale is easily distinguished from both Parringtonia and Nundasuchus and likely does not represent Hypselorhachis or Mandasuchus either.[1]

Based on comparison with the South American Prestosuchus, Mambawakale may have had a skull length of up to 75 cm and would have been one of the largest Pseudosuchians of the middle Triassic, comparable in size with Etjosuchus.[1]

Phylogeny

The strict consensus tree of its type descriptionrecovered Mambawakale as a basal paracrocodylomorph in a polytomy with two other Manda Bed Pseudosuchians, Poposauroidea and Loricata. The inclusion of Nundasuchus did not affect this placement in the phylogenetic tree. However, overall its position within Archosauria is only weakly resolved and poorly supported. It was clearly identified as an archosaur, however its placement in Pseudosuchia was regarded as less certain, given that many traits that would nest it in the group are more broadly found across other archosaur clades.[1]

Archosauria

A later study from 2024, focusing on Schultzsuchus from the Santa Maria Formation of Brazil, suggested an alternative placement. In said study's phylogeny, Mambawakale was recovered as the earliest branching member of the clade Poposauroidea, which was a diverse group containing several morphologically distinct pseudosuchians such as the bipedal Poposaurus, the sail-backed ctenosauriscids and the superficially ornithomimosaur-like Shuvosauridae. This placement was in large parts supported by three anatomical characters all relating to the maxilla. However, it is noted by Desojo and Rauhut that it would only take one step for Mambawakale to be recovered as a basal loricatan, meaning its placement was not without question.[4]

References

  1. ^
    hdl:10919/111401
    .
  2. doi:10.1038/201445a0
    .
  3. ^ Appleby, R.M.; Charig, A.J.; Cox, C.B.; Kermack, K.A.; Tarlo, L.B.H. (1967). "Reptilia" in "The Fossil Record". The Geological Society of London. pp. 695–731.
  4. doi:10.1002/ar.25401
    .
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