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10 September 2013 A Re-Evaluation of Goniopholidid Crocodylomorph Material from Central Asia: Biogeographic and Phylogenetic Implications
Thomas J.D. Halliday, Marco Brandalise De Andrade, Michael J. Benton, Mikhail B. Efimov
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Central Asia is a key area for crocodylomorph evolution, lying midway between the highly documented deposits in Europe and North America, but crocodylomorph fossils from this part of the world are rare. Included among these are specimens collected in the 1970s and 1980s by the Soviet-Mongolian Expeditions in the Jurassic and Cretaceous of Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. Three species, “Sunosuchusshartegensis, Kansajsuchus extensus, and Turanosuchus aralensis are redescribed and subjected to phylogenetic analysis for the first time. “Sunosuchusshartegensis and Kansajsuchus are relatively derived goniopholidids, and part of a pan-east-Laurasian radiation of goniopholidids from which the European goniopholidids subsequently radiated. No characters can be used to distinguish “Sunosuchusshartegensis from “S.” thailandicus; the two species are therefore synonymized. Turanosuchus aralensis is here considered a nomen dubium. Cladistic analysis suggests that Sunosuchus is polyphyletic, indicating a higher degree of diversification than was previously thought, but also pointing to the need for further systematic revision.

Copyright © 2015 T.J.D. Halliday et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Thomas J.D. Halliday, Marco Brandalise De Andrade, Michael J. Benton, and Mikhail B. Efimov "A Re-Evaluation of Goniopholidid Crocodylomorph Material from Central Asia: Biogeographic and Phylogenetic Implications," Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 60(2), 291-312, (10 September 2013). https://doi.org/10.4202/app.2013.0018
Received: 1 March 2013; Accepted: 1 September 2013; Published: 10 September 2013
KEYWORDS
Asia
Crocodylomorpha
Goniopholididae
Mesozoic
Neosuchia
phylogeny
Reptilia
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