Agaresuchus

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Agaresuchus
Temporal range: Campanian-Maastrichtian
~84.9–66.043 Ma
Allodaposuchus subjuniperus.jpg
Holotype skull of Agaresuchus subjuniperus
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Family: †Allodaposuchidae
Genus: †Agaresuchus
Narváez et al., 2016
Type species
†Agaresuchus fontisensis
Narváez et al., 2016
Species
  • Agaresuchus fontisensis Narváez et al., 2016
  • Agaresuchus subjuniperus (Puértolas et al., 2012)

Agaresuchus is an extinct genus of allodaposuchid. It includes two species, the type species A. fontisensis and A. subjuniperus, which was originally named as a species of the related genus Allodaposuchus; both species may belong to this genus. It was recovered from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian)-aged , part of the Tremp Group, in the province of Huesca, Spain.

Discovery and naming[]

In 2014, a second species of Allodaposuchus, A. subjuniperus, was named on the basis of a skull. The skull was found underneath a juniper tree whose roots had grown between the bones, hence the species name subjuniperus or "under juniper" in Latin.[1] In 2016, the new genus and species Agaresuchus fontisensis, was also named from the Lo Hueco fossil site in Fuentes, Cuenca, Spain; fontis is the Latin name of Fuentes. A. subjuniperus was also moved to the genus Agaresuchus. The two species differ in traits such as the shape of the snout (elongated in the former, short in the latter); the shape of the premaxilla (longer than wide compared to wider than long); the number of maxillary tooth sockets (15 compared to 14); the shape of the eye sockets (large and round compared to short and crescent-shaped); the width between the eyes (narrow compared to characteristically broad); and characteristics of the palate and nasal bones. However, they were considered to be sufficiently distinct from the eastern European Allodaposuchus precedens to warrant a new genus.[2] Yet, in 2021, a phylogenetic analysis suggested that both A. fontisensis and A. subjuniperus belong within the genus Allodaposuchus proper.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ Puértolas-Pascual, E.; Canudo, J.I.; Moreno-Azanza, M. (2014). "The eusuchian crocodylomorph Allodaposuchus subjuniperus sp. nov., a new species from the latest Cretaceous (upper Maastrichtian) of Spain". Historical Biology. 26 (1): 91–109. doi:10.1080/08912963.2012.763034. S2CID 85004774.
  2. ^ Narváez, I.; Brochu, C.A.; Escaso, F.; Pérez-García, A.; Ortega, F. (2016). "New Spanish Late Cretaceous eusuchian reveals the synchronic and sympatric presence of two allodaposuchids". Cretaceous Research. 65: 112–125. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2016.04.018.
  3. ^ Blanco, A. (2021). "Importance of the postcranial skeleton in eusuchian phylogeny: Reassessing the systematics of allodaposuchid crocodylians". PLOS ONE. 16 (6): e0251900. Bibcode:2021PLoSO..1651900B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0251900. PMC 8189472. PMID 34106925.
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