Anatosuchus
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| Anatosuchus Fossil range: Early Cretaceous |
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 Anatosuchus minor
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| Anatosuchus minor 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.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
