Brachysuchus Temporal range: Late Triassic,
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Skull of Brachysuchus megalodon in the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
Clade: | Archosauriformes |
Order: | †Phytosauria |
Family: | †Parasuchidae |
Genus: | †Brachysuchus Case, 1929 |
Type species | |
†Brachysuchus megalodon Case, 1929
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Brachysuchus (meaning "wide crocodile") is an extinct genus of phytosaur known from the late Triassic period (Carnian stage) of Dockum Group in Texas, United States. It is known from the holotype UMMP 10336[1] is composed of a skull, lower jaws and partial postcranium and from the associated paratype UMMP 14366, nearly complete skull, recovered from the 'Pre-Tecovas Horizon' in the Dockum Group.[2][3] It was first named by Case in 1929 and the type species is Brachysuchus megalodon. Its closest relative was Angistorhinus.[3] However, its rostral crest was much smaller than that of Angistorhinus, and the rostrum as a whole is shorter and thicker.