Biology:Machimosauridae
| Machimosauridae | |
|---|---|
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| Macrospondylus bollensis | |
Scientific classification 
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| Missing taxonomy template (fix): | Archosauria/Reptilia |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Clade: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Clade: | Crocodyliformes |
| Suborder: | †Thalattosuchia |
| Superfamily: | †Teleosauroidea |
| Family: | †Machimosauridae Jouve et al., 2016 |
| Subgroups | |
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Machimosauridae is an extinct family of teleosauroid thalattosuchian crocodyliforms.[1] The family was first identified in 2016,[2] when fossils of teleosauroid thalattosuchians, including an indeterminate close relative of Lemmysuchus and Machimosaurus, were described from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Morocco.[2] The family was largely expanded in 2020 when the systematics of Teleosauroidea were re-reviewed.[1] Members of this family generally were larger than the teleosaurids.[1]
Classification
Machimosauridae is a diverse group of teleosauroids, phylogenetically defined as "the largest clade within Teleosauroidea containing Machimosaurus hugii, but not Plagiophthalmosuchus gracilirostris and Teleosaurus cadomensis."[1] The members of the Machimosauridae share several unique characters among teleosauroids, which are:[1]
- dorsally oriented external nares
- the premaxillary anterior and anterolateral margins are not sub-vertical and do not extend ventrally
- the premaxilla-maxilla suture is sub-rectangular and slightly interdigitating (most noticeably near the midline)
- no anterolateral expansion of the supratemporal fenestrae
- the postorbital is excluded from the orbit posteroventral margin
- a mostly horizontal pterygoid with a distinct posterolateral angle
- the cultriform process of the basisphenoid is exposed and bifurcates the pterygoids
The phylogenetic relationships of the Machimosauridae were analyzed in a comprehensive analysis of teleosauroid relationships. The results of the analysis are shown below:[1]
| Machimosauridae |
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Evolution
Machimosaurids grew in body size and diversified feeding strategies throughout their evolutionary history. Primitive machimosaurids, such as Macrospondylus and Charitomenosuchus, were longirostrine (long-snouted) generalists with body lengths less than 5 m (16 ft) long.[1][3] Machimosaurines originated in the Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic and simultaneously underwent a decrease in snout length but an increase in body size with Neosteneosaurus reaching up to 6.6 m (22 ft) long.[1][3] Machimosaurins were the largest teleosauroids, with body lengths up to 7.1 m (23 ft) (Machimosaurus rex), and were durophagous hunters, meaning they fed on hard prey.[1][3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Johnson, Michela M.; Young, Mark T.; Brusatte, Stephen L. (2020). "The phylogenetics of Teleosauroidea (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) and implications for their ecology and evolution" (in en). PeerJ 8: e9808. doi:10.7717/peerj.9808. ISSN 2167-8359. PMID 33083104. PMC 7548081. https://peerj.com/articles/9808/.
Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stéphane Jouve; Bastien Mennecart; Julien Douteau; Nour-Eddine Jalil (2016). "The oldest durophagous teleosauroid (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) from the lower Bathonian of central High Atlas, Morocco". Palaeontology 59 (6): 863–876. doi:10.1111/pala.12262.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Young, Mark T.; Rabi, Márton; Bell, Mark A.; Foffa, Davide; Steel, Lorna; Sachs, Sven; Peyer, Karin. "Big-headed marine crocodyliforms and why we must be cautious when using extant species as body length proxies for long-extinct relatives" (in English). Palaeontologia Electronica 19 (3): 1–14. doi:10.26879/648. ISSN 1094-8074. https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2016/1554-teleosaurid-size-estimation.
Wikidata ☰ Q98901556 entry
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