Araripesuchus

Araripesuchus is a genus of extinct crocodyliform that existed during the Cretaceous period of the late Mesozoic era some 125 to 66 million years ago. Araripesuchus is generally considered to be a notosuchian, characterized by the varied teeth types and distinct skull elements. Seven species have been referred to Araripesuchus, though it has been argued that the phylogenetic position of this genus is uncertain, and that taxonomic revision is required.

Araripesuchus

Sereno PC, Larsson HCE · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
UruguaysuchidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Pseudosuchia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mesoeucrocodylia

Time the record covers

At least 41 million years on record.

The record covers at least 113.2 Mya to 72.2 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 121.4 Mya to 66 Mya.

Early Cretaceous — about 16 of 20 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 4 of 20 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 0 of 20 occurrences123–121 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences121–119 Mya — about 1 occurrence119–117 Mya — about 2 occurrences117–115 Mya — about 2 occurrences115–113 Mya — about 2 occurrences113–111 Mya — about 4 occurrences111–109 Mya — about 2 occurrences109–107 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences107–105 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences105–103 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences103–101 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences101–99 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences99–98 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences98–96 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences96–94 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences90–88 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences88–86 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences86–84 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences84–82 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences73–71 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences71–69 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences69–67 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences67–65 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences113.2 Mya72.2 Mya123 Mya65 Mya

20 occurrences of Araripesuchus on record, most of them in the Early Cretaceous. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

20 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

10 formations

Candeleros — 39.63°S, 68.70°WCandeleros — 39.10°S, 68.62°WElrhaz — 16.43°N, 9.12°EElrhaz — 16.70°N, 9.33°EKoum — 8.35°N, 14.79°EAïn el Guettar — 32.68°N, 10.17°ERomualdo — 7.09°S, 40.62°WRomualdo — 7.22°S, 39.27°WDinosaur Beds — 10.28°S, 34.03°EMaevarano — 15.91°S, 46.58°EInbeceten — 15.05°N, 6.03°EDouira — 31.43°N, 4.23°WCrato — 7.00°S, 39.00°W

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The named rock units Araripesuchus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 1 occurrence has no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Araripesuchus and its relatives

Early Cretaceous

Where Araripesuchus and its relatives were recorded in the Early Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

141 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 19 sites for Araripesuchus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

12 references

Each of the 20 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Araripesuchus

Credit
Sereno PC, Larsson HCE
Licence
CC BY 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itUruguaysuchidae through timeFormations of the Early CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Price 1959