Kaprosuchus
| Kaprosuchus | ||||||||||||
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Skull of Kaprosuchus saharicus (MNN IGU12), scale = 10 cm |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Cenomanium ( Upper Cretaceous ) | ||||||||||||
| ~ 95 million years | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Kaprosuchus | ||||||||||||
| Sereno & Larsson , 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Art | ||||||||||||
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Kaprosuchus saharicus is an extinct species from the Crocodylomorpha group , known from layers of the Upper Cretaceous in northern Niger that arearound 95 million years old. The species was named after the Greek Kapros (wild boar) and Souchos (crocodile) as well as after its place of discovery in the Sahara because of its unusual dentition. Kaprosuchus , together with the genus Mahajangasuchus into the family of Mahajangasuchidae asked.
features
From kaprosuchus an almost complete skull of about 50 cm in length was described, suggesting an approximately six-meter long animal. The postcranial skeleton is unknown. The most striking feature are several caniniform elongated teeth in the upper and lower jaw. There are three teeth on each side of the intermaxillary bone, the third of which is enlarged, and ten of the upper jaw , of which the third and seventh are enlarged. Of the sixteen teeth on each side of the lower jaw , only the first three, fifth and eighth are large enough to protrude visibly from the bone, with the third and eighth being significantly enlarged. Kaprosuchus had strong jaws, the snout being particularly suitable for a strong bite due to a reinforced front edge, which possibly had a horny shield, fused nasal bones and laterally displaced nostrils. The well-developed processes of the scaly bone and the laterally aligned eye sockets further indicate a predominantly or even exclusively terrestrial way of life. Vertebrates up to the size of medium-sized dinosaurs could be used as prey .
literature
- Paul C. Sereno , Hans CE Larsson: Cretaceous crocodyliforms from the Sahara (= ZooKeys. Vol. 28, Special Issue. ). Pensoft, Sofia 2009, ISBN 978-954-642-518-8 , doi : 10.3897 / zookeys.28.325 .
Web links
- The Paleobiology Database: Kaprosuchus