Arambourgisuchus

Arambourgisuchus Temporal range: 59–55 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Late Palaeocene
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Skull and line drawing
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	Crocodylomorpha
Family:	†Dyrosauridae
Genus:	†Arambourgisuchus Jouve et al., 2005
Type species
†Arambourgisuchus khouribgaensis Jouve et al., 2005

Arambourgisuchus ("[Prof. Camille] Arambourg's crocodile") was a dyrosaurid crocodylomorph from the late Palaeocene of Morocco, found in the region of Sidi Chenane in 2000, following collaboration by French and Moroccan institutions, and described in 2005 by a team led by palaeontologist Stéphane Jouve.

Its type and only species is A. khouribgaensis, after the town of Khouribga, near which the holotype was found.

Material

File:Arambourgisuchus khouribgaensis.jpg

Holotype skull seen from above and below

Four specimens of this taxon have been found:

• OCP DEK-GE 300 (holotype): nearly complete and crushed skull, lacking the anterior part of the rostrum
• OCP DEK-GE 18: crushed, almost complete skull, including mandible
• OCP DEK-GE 269: posterior part of mandibular symphysis with five or six teeth alveoli on each side
• OCP DEK-GE 1200: Anteriormost portion of a mandibular symphysis

The remains of A. khourgbaensis were found in a phosphate mine in the region of Sidi Chenane, part of the Ouled Abdoun Basin. The age of this animal is therefore Thanetian (late Palaeocene).

Systematics

Arambourgisuchus khourbgaensis is a member of the Dyrosauridae, based on the presence of the following synapomorphies:

• presence of large occipital tuberosities
• supratemporal fenestra largely longer than wide

According to Jouve et al. (2005), it is probably one of the most derived forms, but the lack of better material makes a correct determination of its affinities difficult.

Palaeobiology

The skull of A. khourbgaensis was proportionally one of the longest among all of the Dyrosauridae, reaching a length of 1 meter. Its teeth were sharp but strong and large, as well as being less numerous than the ones in Dyrosaurus phosphaticus.

Like other dyrosaurids, it was a marine predator.