Rugosuchus
| Rugosuchus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauria |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Clade: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Clade: | Crocodyliformes |
| Family: | †Paralligatoridae |
| Genus: | †Rugosuchus Wu et al., 2001 |
| Type species | |
| †Rugosuchus nonganensis Wu et al., 2001
| |
Rugosuchus (meaning "uneven or wrinkled
postcranial skeleton, and a second partial skeleton including part of the hips
. It was described by Xiao-Chun Wu and colleagues in 2001, with R. nonganensis as the type species. At the time of its description, it was the most complete crocodyliform from northeastern China, and only the second known.
Description and history
Rugosuchus is
bivalve, and fish fossils.[2]
Skull IGV 33 is thought to have come from an adult, based on the fusion of bones. It is somewhat elongate, being about 28 centimeters (11 in) long but only an estimated 13 centimeters (5 in) at its widest. The maxillae, the main tooth-bearing bones of the upper jaw, had unusual elongate depressions on their sides, nine or ten per maxilla. Other skull bones had heavily textured surfaces, as is seen on other crocodyliforms. The premaxillae at the tip of the snout had five teeth each, and the maxillae 16 or 17, with wide spacing; because the jaws are closed, the teeth of the lower jaw cannot be observed.[2]
Wu et al. noted that their new genus was not an
derived.[2] However, a more recent phylogenetic analysis by Turner and Buckley (2008) places it with the "Glen Rose Form" in a clade with Eusuchia, more derived than Bernissartia.[3]
References
- ^ Crocodyliformes and Neosuchia are clades that include all living crocodilians and successively smaller subsets of their closest extinct relatives.
- ^ .
- S2CID 85634099.