Dollosuchoides Explained

Dollosuchoides, colloquially known as the Crocodile of Maransart, is an extinct monospecific genus of gavialoid crocodilian, traditionally regarded as a member of the subfamily Tomistominae. Fossils have been found in the Brussel Formation of Maransart, Belgium and date back to the middle Eocene.[1]

The holotype, IRScNB 482, was discovered in 1915 and it was prepared during 1926–1927 by M. Hubert, J. Mehschaert and M. Jean de Kleermaeker, and also in 1927, Louis Dollo had the holotype put on display in the Museum of Natural Sciences and he intended to describe the specimen but he died in 1931 before he was able to describe it and the specimen was eventually referred to Dollosuchus by Swinton (1937)[2] until it was moved to its own genus by Brochu (2007).[3] It is currently housed in the Gand Museum in Belgium.

Phylogeny

Below is a cladogram based morphological studies comparing skeletal features that shows Dollosuchoides as a member of Tomistominae, related to the false gharial:[4]

Based on morphological studies of extinct taxa, the tomistomines (including the living false gharial) were long thought to be classified as crocodiles and not closely related to gavialoids.[5] However, recent molecular studies using DNA sequencing have consistently indicated that the false gharial (Tomistoma) (and by inference other related extinct forms in Tomistominae) actually belong to Gavialoidea (and Gavialidae).[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

Below is a cladogram from a 2018 tip dating study by Lee & Yates simultaneously using morphological, molecular (DNA sequencing), and stratigraphic (fossil age) data that shows Dollosuchoides as a gavialoid, more basal than the last common ancestor to both the gharial and the false gharial:[11]

Notes and References

  1. 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2007.00679.x . Brochu . C.A. . 2007 . Systematics and taxonomy of Eocene tomistomine crocodylians from Britain and Northern Europe . . 50 . 4. 917–928 . free . 2007Palgy..50..917B .
  2. Swinton, W. E. (1937). The Crocodile of Maransart (Dollosuchus dixoni [Owen]). Mémoire 80: 3–46
  3. Piras . P. . Delfino . M. . Del Favero . L. . Kotsakis . T. . 2007 . Phylogenetic position of the crocodylian Megadontosuchus arduini and tomistomine palaeobiogeography . Acta Palaeontologica Polonica . 52 . 2. 315–328 .
  4. Iijima. Masaya. Momohara. Arata. Kobayashi. Yoshitsugu. Hayashi. Shoji. Ikeda. Tadahiro. Taruno. Hiroyuki. Watanabe. Katsunori. Tanimoto. Masahiro. Furui. Sora. 2018-05-01. Toyotamaphimeia cf. machikanensis (Crocodylia, Tomistominae) from the Middle Pleistocene of Osaka, Japan, and crocodylian survivorship through the Pliocene-Pleistocene climatic oscillations. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. en. 496. 346–360. 10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.02.002. 2018PPP...496..346I. 0031-0182.
  5. Brochu . C.A. . Gingerich, P.D. . 2000 . New tomistomine crocodylian from the Middle Eocene (Bartonian) of Wadi Hitan, Fayum Province, Egypt . University of Michigan Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology . 30 . 10 . 251–268.
  6. 12775527 . 2003 . Harshman . J. . True and false gharials: A nuclear gene phylogeny of crocodylia . Systematic Biology . 52 . 3 . 386–402 . Huddleston . C. J. . Bollback . J. P. . Parsons . T. J. . Braun . M. J. . 10.1080/10635150309323 . free .
  7. Gatesy . Jorge . Amato, G. . Norell, M. . DeSalle, R. . Hayashi, C. . 2003 . Combined support for wholesale taxic atavism in gavialine crocodylians . Systematic Biology . 52 . 3 . 403–422 . 10.1080/10635150309329. 12775528 . free .
  8. Willis . R. E. . McAliley . L. R. . Neeley . E. D. . Densmore Ld . L. D. . Evidence for placing the false gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii) into the family Gavialidae: Inferences from nuclear gene sequences . 10.1016/j.ympev.2007.02.005 . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 43 . 3 . 787–794 . June 2007 . 17433721.
  9. Gatesy . J. . Amato . G. . 2008 . The rapid accumulation of consistent molecular support for intergeneric crocodylian relationships . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 48 . 3 . 1232–1237 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2008.02.009. 18372192.
  10. Erickson, G. M.. Gignac, P. M.. Steppan, S. J.. Lappin, A. K.. Vliet, K. A.. Brueggen, J. A.. Inouye, B. D.. Kledzik, D.. Webb, G. J. W. . 2012 . Insights into the ecology and evolutionary success of crocodilians revealed through bite-force and tooth-pressure experimentation . PLOS ONE . 7 . 3 . e31781 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0031781. Claessens. Leon. 2012PLoSO...731781E . 22431965 . 3303775. free.
  11. Michael S. Y. Lee . Adam M. Yates . 27 June 2018 . Tip-dating and homoplasy: reconciling the shallow molecular divergences of modern gharials with their long fossil . . 285 . 1881 . 10.1098/rspb.2018.1071 . 30051855 . 6030529 . free.
  12. Hekkala . E. . Gatesy . J. . Narechania . A. . Meredith . R. . Russello . M. . Aardema . M. L. . Jensen . E. . Montanari . S. . Brochu . C. . Norell . M. . Amato . G. . 2021-04-27 . Paleogenomics illuminates the evolutionary history of the extinct Holocene "horned" crocodile of Madagascar, Voay robustus . Communications Biology . en . 4 . 1 . 505 . 10.1038/s42003-021-02017-0 . 33907305 . 8079395 . 2399-3642 . free.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Dollosuchoides".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.