Peirosauridae Temporal range:
| |
---|---|
Skull of the peirosaurid Hamadasuchus rebouli on display at the Royal Ontario Museum | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Archosauria |
Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
Clade: | Crocodylomorpha |
Clade: | Crocodyliformes |
Clade: | †Notosuchia |
Clade: | †Sebecosuchia |
Clade: | †Sebecia |
Family: | †Peirosauridae Gasparini, 1982 |
Genera | |
|
Peirosauridae is a Gondwanan family of mesoeucrocodylians that lived during the Cretaceous period. It was a clade of terrestrial crocodyliforms that evolved a rather dog-like skull, and were terrestrial carnivores. It was phylogenetically defined in 2004 as the most recent common ancestor of Peirosaurus and Lomasuchinae and all of its descendants. Lomasuchinae is a subfamily of peirosaurids that includes the genus Lomasuchus.[1]
Lomasuchinae was defined in the same 2004 study as the most recent common ancestor of Lomasuchus and Mahajangasuchini and all of its descendants. Mahajangasuchini, also constructed in the study, was defined as the most recent common ancestor of Mahajangasuchus and Uberabasuchus and all of its descendants.[1] However, all more recent phylogenetic analyses placed Mahajangasuchus within its own family, Mahajangasuchidae, along with the newly named Kaprosuchus.[2][3][4]