Denazinosuchus

Denazinosuchus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 84.9–70.6 Ma[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Clade: Crocodylomorpha
Clade: Crocodyliformes
Family: Goniopholididae
Genus: Denazinosuchus
Lucas & Sullivan, 2003
Type species
Denazinosuchus kirtlandicus
(Wiman, 1932 [originally Goniopholis kirtlandicus])

Denazinosuchus is a genus of goniopholidid mesoeucrocodylian. Its fossils have been recovered from the Upper Cretaceous Fruitland Formation and Kirtland Formation (late Campanian-early Maastrichtian) of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico. It is the most abundant and readily identifiable mesoeucrocodylian of the San Juan Basin, mostly due to its distinctive subrectangular, flattened, and sparsely pitted bony armor.[2] It was first described in 1932 by Carl Wiman on the basis of a skull as a species of Goniopholis, G. kirtlandicus.[3] Spencer G. Lucas and Robert M. Sullivan redescribed the species in 2003 and gave it its own genus, Denazinosuchus.[4] To date, Denazinosuchus is only known from skull material, armor, and a thigh bone.[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "†Denazinosuchus Lucas and Sullivan 2003". Paleobiology Database. Fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b Lucas, Spencer G.; Sullivan, Robert M.; Spielmann, Justin A. (2006). "Late Cretaceous crocodylians from the San Juan Basin, New Mexico". In Lucas, Spencer G.; Sullivan, Robert M. (eds.). Late Cretaceous Vertebrates from the Western Interior. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. Vol. 35. Albuquerque, New Mexico: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. pp. 249–252.
  3. ^ Wiman, Carl (1932). "Goniopholis kirtlandicus n. sp. aus der oberen Kreide in New Mexico". Bulletin of the Geological Institution of the University of Uppsala (in German). 23: 181–189.
  4. ^ Lucas, Spencer G.; Sullivan, Robert M. (2003). "A new crocodylian from the Upper Cretaceous of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte. 2003 (2): 109–119. doi:10.1127/njgpm/2003/2003/109.