Phylum Chordata | Class Reptilia Scientific name Chenanisuchus lateroculi Rank Genus | |
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Similar Arambourgisuchus, Guarinisuchus, Cerrejonisuchus, Kansajsuchus | ||
Chenanisuchus ("Chenane crocodile") is a genus of dyrosaurid crocodyliform from the Late Cretaceous of Mali and the Late Palaeocene of Sidi Chenane in Morocco. It was described in 2005, after expeditions uncovered it in 2000.
Contents
The type species is C. lateroculi ("lateralis", lateral; "oculi", eyes), in reference to the laterally facing eyes.
Currently, Chenanisuchus is the most basal known dyrosaurid.
Material
Two specimens of C. lateroculi – OCP DEK-GE 262 (holotype, nearly complete skull with mandibular fragments) and OCP DEK-GE 61 (nearly complete skull) – come from the Sidi Chenane area in Morocco, which is Late Palaeocene (Thanetian) in age. Fossils of Chenanisuchus were also found in Maastrichtian age strata in Mali, what shows that Chenanisuchus survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.
Systematics
Chenanisuchus lateroculi is referred to Dyrosauridae by Jouve et al. (2005), based on three morphological characters:
Palaeobiology
Chenanisuchus lateroculi has an estimated adult length between 4 and 4.5 meters, based on the 60 centimeter long skull. It has the shortest snout relative to the dorsal skull length among all dyrosaurids.