Notochampsa Explained

Notochampsa is an extinct genus of protosuchian crocodyliform.^[1] Fossils have been found from the lower Clarens Formation of the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa, dating back to the Pliensbachian stage of the Early Jurassic.^{[2] [3] [4]} Notochampsa comes from a period of relative fossil scarcity, and is the youngest known occurrence of a crocodylomorph (and vertebrate body fossil) from the Karoo Basin of South Africa.

Taxonomy

The genus was named in a paper published in 1904 by Robert Broom.^[5] The type species was named N. istedana, and a second species, named N. longipes, was also described. Later in 1924, N. longipes was given its own genus, Erythrochampsa.^[6] In that paper, Sidney Haughton created the family Notochampsidae for Notochampsa. Notochampsa was later used to include other genera of protosuchians such as Dyoplax, Pedeticosaurus, Platyognathus, and Protosuchus,^[7] and later Microchampsa and Orthosuchus.^[8] Notochampsa had also once been assigned to the suborder Sphenosuchia.^[9] A revision in 2021 found it valid taxon, and phylogenetic analysis recovered it as sister to Orthosuchus, in a monophyletic Notochampsidae.

External links

• Notochampsa in the Paleobiology Database

Notes and References

1. 10.1098/rstb.1990.0185 . Walker . A. D. . 1990 . A revision of Sphenosuchus acutus Haughton, a crocodylomorph reptile from the Elliot Formation (Late Triassic or Early Jurassic) of South Africa . Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences . 330 . 1256 . 1–120.
2. Nash . D. S. . 1975 . The morphology and relationships of a crocodilian, Orthosuchus stormbergi, from the Upper Triassic of Lesotho . Annals of the South African Museum . 67 . 1975)(7 . 227–329.
3. 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2005.07.014 . Durand . J. F. . 2005 . Major African contributions to Palaeozoic and Mesozoic vertebrate palaeontology . Journal of African Earth Sciences . 43 . 1–3 . Phanerozoic Evolution of Africa . 53–82. 2005JAfES..43...53D .
4. Kitching . J. W. . Raath, M. A. . 1984 . Fossils from the Elliot and Clarens formations (Karoo sequence) of the northeastern Cape, Orange Free State and Lesotho, and a suggested biozonation based on tetrapods . Paleontologica Africana . 25 . 111–125.
5. Broom . R. . 1904 . On a new crocodilian genus (Notochampsa) from the upper Stormberg beds of South Africa . Geological Magazine . New Series, Decade V . 1 . 12 . 582–584. 10.1017/S0016756800124367 . 1904GeoM....1..582B . 128988222 .
6. Haughton . S. H. . 1924 . The fauna and stratigraphy of the Stormberg Series . Annals of the South African Museum . 12 . 323–497.
7. Book: Romer, A. S. . 1956 . Osteology of the Reptiles . University of Chicago Press . Chicago . 0-89464-985-X.
8. Book: Steel, R. . 1973 . Crocodylia . Kuhn, O.. Handbuch der Palaoherpetologie . 16 . G. Fischer Verlag . Stuttgart . 1–116.
9. 10.1007/BF02118235 . Huene . F. von . 1925 . Die Bedeutung der Sphenosuchus-Gruppe fur den Ursprung der Krokodile . Z. Indukt. Abstamm.-u. Vererblehre . 38 . 307–322. 12461978 .