Simosuchus
Name:
Simosuchus
(Pug nosed crocodile).
Phonetic: Sim-o-su-kus.
Named By: G. A. Buckley, C. A. Brochu,
D. W. Krause & D. Pol - 2000.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Crocodylomorpha, Notosuchia, Ziphosuchia.
Species: S. clarki (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: About 75 centimetres long.
Known locations: Madagascar, Mahajanga Province
- Maevarano Formation.
Time period: Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Multiple individuals,
together allowing for complete reconstructions of the animal.
Simosuchus
is a genus of small and probably vegetarian crocodile
that lived in
Madagascar during the late Cretaceous. The vegetarian theory about
the diet comes from study of the teeth and jaws which are much better
suited to processing plant material than flesh. Simosuchus
also
exhibits a greatly reduced tail, quite possibly because Simosuchus
spent all of its life on land and had no need for the tail to push it
through the water while swimming.
Simosuchus
was covered in bony armour plates technically known as osteoderms.
These bony plates were so tightly packed in places that they would
have formed flexible shields covering the upper back, tail and parts
of the limbs. These tough shields would have been a formidable
defence against the teeth and claws of dromaeosaurid
dinosaurs such as
Rahonavis
which were around at the same time as Simosuchus.
It is
questionable however how much defence the bony shields would have
provided against larger predators such as larger abelisaurid
dinosaurs
like Majungasaurus
if they were so inclined to tackle a Simosuchus.
Simosuchus
has been speculated to have been similar to Libycosuchus
from Egypt,
and remains of a Simosuchus-like notosuchian
crocodile have now also
been found in India (Prasad et al, 2013). What these
discoveries may indicate is that crocodiles like Simosuchus
may have
been present at least across the African and Asian portions of Gondwana
during the Late Cretaceous, but in Madagascar the Simosuchus
population may have been more concentrated, allowing for more fossil
remains to be found there.
Further reading
- A pug-nosed crocodyliform from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar.
- Nature 405:941-944. - G. A. Buckley, C. A.
Brochu, D. W. Krause & D. Pol - 2000.
- Postcranial axial skeleton of Simosuchus clarki
(Crocodyliformes: Notosuchia) from the Late Cretaceous of
Madagascar. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30 (6,
Supplement): 99–121. - J. A. Georgi & D. W.
Krause - 2010.
- Appendicular skeleton of Simosuchus clarki
(Crocodyliformes:
Notosuchia) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. - Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology 30 (6, Supplement): 122–153. -
J. J. W. Sertich & J. R Groenke - 2010.
- Osteoderms of Simosuchus clarki
(Crocodyliformes: Notosuchia)
from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar - Journal of Vertebrate
Paleontology 30 (6, Supplement): 154–176. - R. V.
Hill - 2010.
- Phylogenetic history of Simosuchus clarki
(Crocodyliformes:
Notosuchia) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. - Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology 30 (6, Supplement): 177–236. -
A. H. Turner & S. W. Sertich - 2010.
- A new Late Cretaceous vertebrate fauna from the Cauvery Basin,
South India: implications for Gondwanan paleobiogeography. -
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology vol 33, issue 6. -
Guntupalli V. R. Prasad, Omkar Verma, John J. Flynn
& Anjali Goswami - 2013.
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