Shamosuchus

Shamosuchus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 85–66 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
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Holotype specimen
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	Crocodylomorpha
Family:	†Paralligatoridae Konzhukova, 1954
Genus:	†Shamosuchus Mook, 1924
Species
†S. djadochtaensis Mook, 1924 (type)

Shamosuchus is an extinct genus of neosuchian crocodile that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Santonian-Maastrichtian) period in what is now the Gobi desert of Mongolia, approximately 85 to 66 million years ago. The teeth were adapted to crush bivalves, gastropods and other animals with a shell or exoskeleton. The genus was named in 1924 by Charles C. Mook.

File:Shamosuchus.png

Skull and diagram

Most of the information on this genus comes from the type species S. djadochtaensis, including a well preserved skull. The eye and nasal openings were not raised above the skull as in modern crocodilians, so that the animal would have to raise its head completely out of the water to breathe. As this cranial morphology does not suit an ambush predator, it lends support to the idea of a diet of aquatic invertebrates.

The genus Paralligator, named in 1954, was synonymized with Shamosuchus by several authors "P". sungaricus is known from the Early Cretaceous Nenjiang Formation in Jilin Province, China. However, recent cladistic analysis of Paralligatoridae found Paralligator distinct from Shamosuchus.

External links

• CRETÁCEO répteis e anfíbios
• Paralligatoridae
• Répteis Crocodilianos
• Shamosuchus drawing
• Forum on ancient species K-T crocodylians