Congosaurus

Congosaurus
Temporal range: Paleocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Clade: Crocodylomorpha
Clade: Crocodyliformes
Family: †Dyrosauridae
Genus: †Congosaurus
Dollo, 1914
Species
  • †C. bequaerti Dollo, 1914 (type)
  • †C. compressus (Buffetaut, 1980 [originally Rhabdognathus compressus])

Congosaurus is an extinct genus of dyrosaurid mesoeucrocodylian. Fossils have been found from Lândana, in Angola and date back to the Paleocene epoch. In 1952 and 1964 Congosaurus was proposed to be synonymous with Dyrosaurus.[1][2] The genus was later thought synonymous with Hyposaurus in 1976 and 1980.[3][4] It has since been proven a distinct genus of dyrosaurid separate from both Dyrosaurus and Hyposaurus.[5]

In 2007, a new species of Congosaurus was constructed after previously being assigned to Rhabdognathus, and named C. compressus, extending the geographic range of the genus into the present-day Sahara.[6] Lateromedially compressed teeth show its close relation to C. bequaerti.

  1. ^ Arambourg, C. (1952). "Les vertébrés fossiles des gisements de phosphates (Maroc, Algérie, Tunisie)". Notes et Mémoires du Service géologique du Maroc. 92: 372.
  2. ^ Antunes, M. T. (1964). O neocretácico e o cenozóico do litoral de Angola. Junta de Investigações do Ultramar, Lisboa, 254 pp.
  3. ^ Buffetaut, E. (1976). "Une nouvelle définition de la famille des Dyrosauridae de Stefano, 1903 (Crocodylia, Mesosuchia) et ses conséquences: inclusion des genres Hyposaurus et Sokotosuchus dans les Dyrosauridae". Geobios. 9 (3): 333–336. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(76)80037-X.
  4. ^ Buffetaut, E. (1980). Les crocodiliens Paléogènes du Tilemsi (Mali): un aperçu systématique. Palaeovertebrata, Mémoire jubilaire en hommage à René Lavocat 15–35.
  5. ^ Jouve, S.; Schwarz, D. (2004). "Congosaurus bequaerti, a Paleocene dyrosaurid (Crocodyliformes; Mesoeucrocodylia) from Landana (Angola)". Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Sciences de la Terre. 74: 129–146.
  6. ^ Jouve, S. (2007). "Taxonomic revision of the Dyrosaurid assemblage (Crocodyliformes: Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Paleocene of the Iullemmeden Basin, west Africa". Journal of Paleontology. 81 (1): 163–175. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2007)81[163:TROTDA]2.0.CO;2.