Protosuchia

Holotype of Protosuchus richardsoni from the Upper Triassic of Arizona in the American Museum of Natural History in New York ( Exemplar-Nr.: AMNH 3024 ).

• Worldwide

The Protosuchia were reptiles from the relationship of the crocodiles that occurred worldwide distribution of the Upper Triassic to Lower Cretaceous. They are the most primitive stem lineage representatives of safe crocodiles. They include all Crocodyliformes that are closer related to Protosuchus richardsoni as with the Nile crocodile ( Crocodylus niloticus ).

Fossil remains of Protosuchia you often found together with dinosaurs in sediments of terrestrial origin. It is believed, therefore, that they had a not so much bound to the water of life like today's crocodiles.

Features

Her skull is characterized by reduced upper temporal and Antorbitalfenster. The two parietal bones are fused together, as postorbital and postfrontal. A large eckzahnartiger tooth of the lower jaw is its mouth closed in a gap between premaxilla and maxilla. The temporomandibular joint is typically reptilian, connected via the quadrate, which has a large-area contact to the person sitting at the side of the skull sphenoid directly with the cranium. The sphenoid bone is greater than the basioccipital of the skull base, the wing strut is hollow, the palatine bone is part of the well-developed secondary palate roof.

The rest of the skeleton - with the exception of amphicoel shaped vertebrae ( front and rear contact surfaces of the vertebral bodies are indented ) and the longer limbs - similar to today's crocodiles.

Genera

• Dianosuchus
• Erythrochampsa ( Lower Jurassic, South Africa)
• Hemiprotosuchus
• Notochampsa ( Lower Jurassic, South Africa)
• Orthosuchus ( Lower Jurassic, South Africa)
• Protosuchus ( Lower Jurassic, North America)
• Sichuanosuchus ( Lower Cretaceous, China)
• Stegomosuchus