Iharkutosuchus Explained

Iharkutosuchus ("Iharkút crocodile", after where it was found) is an extinct genus of basal eusuchian crocodyliform. Its fossils have been found in the Santonian-age Upper Cretaceous Csehbánya Formation in the Bakony Mountains of western Hungary.

Description

It is based on MTM 2006.52.1, a nearly complete skull, and several other partial skulls, isolated skull bones, and numerous teeth are also known. Iharkutosuchus was a small crocodyliform (skull length 11.1cm (04.4inches), estimated body length 0.8m (02.6feet)). Its skull was low, and the snout was short. Iharkutosuchus is unusual in its heterodonty: some of its teeth were complex and multicusped, like mammal teeth. The structure of the skull indicates that it could grind food with a mobile lower jaw, and together with the teeth suggest a diet of fibrous plant material.[1] [2]

Classification

The genus was described in 2007 by Attila Ősi and colleagues. The type species is I. makadii, named for László Makádi.[1] A 2011 phylogenetic study recovered Iharkutosuchus as a member of Hylaeochampsidae, a group of basal eusuchians, as shown in the cladogram below.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Ősi . Attila . Clark, James M. . Weishampel, David B. . 2007 . First report on a new eusuchian crocodyliform with multicusped teeth from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) of Hungary . Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen . 243 . 2 . 169–177 . 10.1127/0077-7749/2007/0243-0169.
  2. Ősi . Attila . Weishampel, David B. . 2009 . Jaw mechanism and dental function in the Late Cretaceous basal eusuchian Iharkutosuchus . . 270 . 8 . 903–920 . 10.1002/jmor.10726 . 19206154 . free .
  3. Buscalioni . A.D. . Piras, P. . Vullo, R. . Signore, M. . Barbera, C. . 2011 . Early eusuchia crocodylomorpha from the vertebrate-rich Plattenkalk of Pietraroia (Lower Albian, southern Apennines, Italy) . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 163 . S199–S227 . 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00718.x . free .