Culebrasuchus: Difference between revisions

Culebrasuchus; Temporal range: Miocene
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauromorpha
Clade:	Archosauriformes
Order:	Crocodilia
Family:	Alligatoridae
Subfamily:	Caimaninae
Genus:	†Culebrasuchus; Hastings et al., 2013
Type species
	†Culebrasuchus mesoamericanus; Hastings et al., 2013

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Culebrasuchus is an extinct genus of caiman (a type of crocodilian) known from the early–middle Miocene of the Panama Canal Zone of Panama. It contains a single species, Culebrasuchus mesoamericanus, which is based on a single holotype skull and three neck vertebrae. Culebrasuchus is thought to be the most basal member of Caimaninae, meaning that it represents the earliest radiation of caimans in the Americas. The ancestor of Culebrasuchus likely lived farther north, perhaps in what is now southern Mexico, because before the Miocene most of Panama was underwater. The movement of Culebrasuchus into the Panama Canal Zone was an early part of the Great American Interchange in which animals dispersed between North and South America across the newly formed Isthmus of Panama (although during the early-middle Miocene it had not yet formed, with 20 km of ocean still separating the continents).^[1]

Features that Culebrasuchus shares in common with other caimanines include nostrils that open upward (rather than slightly forward, as in alligatorines), and bones that do not overlap the edges of two openings in the skull table called supratemporal fenestrae. Like living caimanines, Culebrasuchus has blunter teeth at the back of the jaw, and the teeth in the upper jaw completely overly the teeth in the lower jaw when the mouth is closed. Features in Culebrasuchus that are not found in other caimanines include the lack of ridges above the eye sockets and the large size of a hole in the lower jaw called the external mandibular fenestra. These features may be plesiomorphic ("primitive") for alligatorids. Culebrasuchus also has a straighter lower jaw than most other alligatorids, it lacks the ridges on the frontal bone between the eye sockets that are common among crocodylians, and the fourth tooth of the maxilla (rather than third, as in almost all other alligatorids) is the largest in the upper jaw.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.713814, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1080/02724634.2012.713814 instead.

[PanamaCrocs-1] Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.713814, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1080/02724634.2012.713814 instead.

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-'''''Culebrasuchus''''' is an [[extinct]] [[genus]] of [[caimanine]] [[crocodylia]]n known from the early–middle [[Miocene]] of the [[Panama Canal Zone]] of [[Panama]]. It contains a single [[species]], '''''Culebrasuchus mesoamericanus''''', which is based on a single [[holotype]] skull and three neck [[vertebrae]].<ref name=PanamaCrocs>{{Cite doi|10.1080/02724634.2012.713814}}</ref>
+'''''Culebrasuchus''''' is an [[extinct]] [[genus]] of [[caimanine|caiman]] (a type of [[crocodilian]]) known from the early–middle [[Miocene]] of the [[Panama Canal Zone]] of [[Panama]]. It contains a single [[species]], '''''Culebrasuchus mesoamericanus''''', which is based on a single [[holotype]] skull and three neck [[vertebrae]]. ''Culebrasuchus'' is thought to be the most basal member of Caimaninae, meaning that it represents the earliest radiation of caimans in the Americas. The ancestor of ''Culebrasuchus'' likely lived farther north, perhaps in what is now southern Mexico, because before the Miocene most of Panama was underwater. The movement of ''Culebrasuchus'' into the Panama Canal Zone was an early part of the [[Great American Interchange]] in which animals dispersed between North and South America across the newly formed Isthmus of Panama (although during the early-middle Miocene it had not yet formed, with 20 km of ocean still separating the continents).<ref name=PanamaCrocs>{{Cite doi|10.1080/02724634.2012.713814}}</ref>
-Features that ''Culebrasuchus'' shares in common with other caimanines include nostrils that open upward (rather than slightly forward, as in alligatorines), and bones that do not overlap the edges of two openings in the [[skull table]] called [[Temporal fenestra|supratemporal fenestrae]]. Like living caimanines, ''Culebrasuchus ''has blunter teeth at the back of the jaw, and the teeth in the upper jaw completely overly the teeth in the lower jaw when the mouth is closed. Features in ''Culebrasuchus ''that are not found in other caimanines include the lack of ridges above the eye sockets and the large size of a hole in the lower jaw called the external mandibular fenestra. These features may be [[plesiomorphic]] ("primitive") for alligatorids. ''Culebrasuchus ''also has a straighter lower jaw than most other alligatorids and it lacks the ridges on the [[frontal bone]] between the eye sockets that are common among crocodylians.<ref name="PanamaCrocs" />
+Features that ''Culebrasuchus'' shares in common with other caimanines include nostrils that open upward (rather than slightly forward, as in alligatorines), and bones that do not overlap the edges of two openings in the [[skull table]] called [[Temporal fenestra|supratemporal fenestrae]]. Like living caimanines, ''Culebrasuchus ''has blunter teeth at the back of the jaw, and the teeth in the upper jaw completely overly the teeth in the lower jaw when the mouth is closed. Features in ''Culebrasuchus ''that are not found in other caimanines include the lack of ridges above the eye sockets and the large size of a hole in the lower jaw called the external mandibular fenestra. These features may be [[plesiomorphic]] ("primitive") for alligatorids. ''Culebrasuchus ''also has a straighter lower jaw than most other alligatorids, it lacks the ridges on the [[frontal bone]] between the eye sockets that are common among crocodylians, and the fourth tooth of the maxilla (rather than third, as in almost all other alligatorids) is the largest in the upper jaw.<ref name="PanamaCrocs" />
 ==References==