Cretaceous Crocodyliforms from the Sahara

By

Sereno, Paul
Larsson, Hans C. E., 1971-

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2009

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

28

Pages

1-143

Subjects

Crocodylia , crocodyliforms , Metasuchia , Notosuchia

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.28.325

 

Abstract

Diverse crocodyliforms have been discovered in recent years in Cretaceous rocks on southern landmasses formerly composing Gondwana.  We report here on six species from the Sahara with an array of trophic adaptations that significantly deepen our current understanding of African crocodyliform diversity during the Cretaceous period.  We describe two of these species (Anatosuchus minor, Araripesuchus wegeneri) from nearly complete skulls and partial articulated skeletons from the Lower Cretaceous Elrhaz Formation (Aptian-Albian) of Niger. The remaining four species (Araripesuchus rattoides sp. n., Kaprosuchus saharicus gen. n. sp. n., Laganosuchus thaumastos gen. n. sp. n., Laganosuchus maghrebensis gen. n. sp. n.) come from contemporaneous Upper Cretaceous formations (Cenomanian) in Niger and Morocco.