Name:
Comahuesuchus.
Phonetic: Co-ma-hew-su-kus.
Named By: J. F. Bonaparte - 1991.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Crocodylomorpha, Notosuchia.
Species: C. brachybuccalis
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Skulls up to 10.6 centimetres long, total
length about 1 meter long.
Known locations: Argentina - Bajo de la Carpa
Formation, Portezuelo Formation.
Time period: Turonian to Santonian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Remains of several
individuals.
Comahuesuchus is a notosuchian crocodile that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous period. The description of Anatosuchus in 2003 led to the idea that Anatosuchus and Comahuesuchus were close relatives, however a 2006 paper by Andrade, Bertini and Pinheiro came to the conclusion that they were not closely related. Instead a possible close relative of Comahuesuchus is the genus Mariliasuchus.
Further reading
- Los vertebrados f�siles de la Formaci�n Rio Colorado, de la
Ciudad de Neuqu�n y Cercan�as, Cret�cico Superior, Argentina [The
vertebrate fossils of the Rio Colorado Formation, from the city of
Neuqu�n and surrounding areas, Upper Cretaceous, Argentina]. -
Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 'Bernardino
Rivadavia'" e Instituto Nacional de Investigaci�n de las Ciencias
Naturales: Paleontolog�a 4(3):17-123. - J. F.
Bonaparte - 1991.
- New cranial remains of Comahuesuchus brachybuccalis
(Archosauria, Crocodyliformes) from the Late Cretaceous of Rio
Negro province, Argentina. - AMEGHINIANA - Agustin G.
Martinelli - 2003.
- A new notosuchian from the Early Cretaceous of Niger. - Journal
of Vertebrate Paleontology 23 (2): 477-482. - P. C.
Sereno, C. A. Sidor, H. C. E. Larsson & B.
Gado
- 2003.
- Observations on the palate and choanae structures in
Mesoeucrocodylia (Archosauria, Crocodylomorpha): phylogenetic
implications. - Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia, Sociedade
Brasileira de Paleontologia 9 (3): 323-332.- M. B.
Andrade, R. J. Bertini & A. E. P. Pinheiro -
2006.