| Mahajangasuchidae Temporal range: Cenomanian - Maastrichtian
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Mahajangasuchus insignis | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauria |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Clade: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Clade: | Crocodyliformes |
| Clade: | Metasuchia |
| Family: | †Mahajangasuchidae Sereno and Larsson, 2009[1] |
| Genera | |
Mahajangasuchidae is an extinct family of notosuchian[2][3] crocodyliforms. It currently contains two genera, Mahajangasuchus and Kaprosuchus, both of which lived during the Late Cretaceous in Gondwana. It is defined as the most inclusive clade containing Mahajangasuchus insignis but not Notosuchus terrestris, Simosuchus clarki, Araripesuchus gomesii, Baurusuchus pachecoi, Peirosaurus torminni, Goniopholis crassidens, Pholidosaurus schaumbergensis, or Crocodylus niloticus.[1] Phylogenetically, Mahajangasuchidae is placed just outside pholidosaurids and more derived neosuchians.[3]
Defining characters of the family include fused nasals, a jaw articulation below the posterior maxillary tooth row, a deep mandibular symphysis that is oriented anterodorsally, and the formation of a hornlike posterodorsal process from the squamosal and parietal (which is much more pronounced in Kaprosuchus).
- ^ a b Sereno, Paul; Larsson, Hans (2009-11-19). "Cretaceous Crocodyliforms from the Sahara". ZooKeys (28): 1–143. doi:10.3897/zookeys.28.325. ISSN 1313-2970.
- ^ Pol, D.; Nascimento, P. M.; Carvalho, A. B.; Riccomini, C.; Pires-Domingues, R. A.; Zaher, H. (2014). "A New Notosuchian from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil and the Phylogeny of Advanced Notosuchians". PLOS ONE. 9 (4): e93105. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...993105P. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093105. PMC 3973723. PMID 24695105.
- ^ a b Nicholl CS, Hunt ES, Ouarhache D, Mannion PD (2021). "A second peirosaurid crocodyliform from the Mid-Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of Morocco and the diversity of Gondwanan notosuchians outside South America". Royal Society Open Science. 8 (10): Article ID 211254. doi:10.1098/rsos.211254. PMC 8511751. PMID 34659786.