Mourasuchus

• South America ( Fitzcarrald lineup, Peru )

• M. amazonensis Price, 1964
• Atopus M. Langston, 1966
• M. nativus Gasparini, 1985

Mourasuchus is an extinct alligator -like reptile of the family of Alligatoridae. It lived in the Miocene of South America and is distinguished mainly by its size of 12 meters and its unusual for Alligator Similar diet: This animal was a filter feeder.

Description

His skull was described as a duck similar, so extended wide, flat and strong. He outwardly very similar to that of Stomatosuchus, another known extinct crocodile -like. His jaws were extremely fragile, indicating a diet as filter feeders for lack of bite force and robustness. Larger, well-fortified prey, the animal may have torn impossible because the risk of injury would have been too high. Mourasuchus will have fed more versatile by fed on small fish, soil organisms in lakes and rivers and filtered food particles. No living crocodile Similar complies with this diet.

Mourasuchus had rows of small, cone-shaped teeth 40 each were located on each side of the upper and lower jaw. These were unusually long and closed very tightly, so water could be squeezed out of the mouth without food components and larger plankton could escape.

Locality and habitat

Fossils of Mourasuchus were found in the Fitzcarrald cave in Peru. In his time there lived there with other huge Krokodiliern, such as the mighty gharialähnlichen Gryposuchus and the alligator -like Purussaurus, both of which were 12 feet tall. In the time of the Miocene ( Tortonian, 11.608 to 7.246 million years) there were in South America, an extraordinary variety of Krokodilomorphen. This extraordinary flowering of giant reptiles has unexplained causes and may be due to vacant ecological niches in wetlands, who took these giants, or to a climatic / evolutionary favoring of cold-blooded animals. The development of a filtered Krokodiliers was an ending side branch of evolution, but is an evidence of the astounding success and adaptability of these reptiles dar.

Contemporaries Mourasuchus, Purussaurus and Gryposuchus presented with great certainty is no direct competitors for food, as well Gryposuchus hired mainly on large prey to a piscivorous diet and Purussaurus.

The type species of the genus Mourasuchus is described M. amazonensis, 1964. Another type, M. atopus, Mourasuchus was attributed after it was first assigned in 1965 a different genus ( Nettosuchus ). The latter type has a longer and thinner skulls than the type species. A third type, M. nativus, was named in 1985.

Swell

• Crocodiles
• Crocodilia
• Extinct crocodile