Candidodon

Candidodon
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: Crocodylomorpha
Suborder: †Notosuchia
Family: †Candidodontidae
Genus: †Candidodon
Carvalho and Campos, 1988
Species
  • †C. itapecuruense Carvalho and Campos, 1988 (type)

Candidodon is an extinct genus of notosuchian mesoeucrocodylian. Fossils have been found of Early Cretaceous age from Brazil. The genus is characterized by a particularly elongate pair of choanae in its palate.[1] It has been named the type genus of the family Candidodontidae, first constructed in 2004.[2] It was initially assigned to the family with a proposed sister genus, Mariliasuchus, but a recent phylogenetic analysis has shown that Mariliasuchus may instead be closer in relation to Comahuesuchus than to Candidodon and thus a member of the family Comahuesuchidae.[3] If this is true, Candidodon would be the only member of the family Candidodontidae.

References

  1. ↑ de Andrade, M. B., Bertini, R. J. and Pinheiro, A. E. P. (2006) Observations on the palate and choanae structures in Mesoeucrocodylia (Archosauria, Crocodylomorpha): phylogenetic implications. Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 9(3):323-332.
  2. ↑ Carvalho, I.; Ribeiro, L. C. B.; Avilla, L. (2004). "Uberabasuchus terrificus sp. nov., a new Crocodylomorpha from the Bauru Basin (Upper Cretaceous), Brazil". Gondwana Research 7 (4): 975–1002. doi:10.1016/S1342-937X(05)71079-0.
  3. ↑ Zaher, H.; Pol, D.; Carvalho, A. B.; Riccomini, C.; Campos, D.; Navas, W. (2006). "Re-description of the cranial morphology of Mariliasuchus amarali, and its phylogenetic affinities (Crocodyliformes, Notosuchia)". American Museum Novitates 3512: 1–40. doi:10.1206/0003-0082(2006)3512[1:ROTCMO]2.0.CO;2.