Gondwanasuchus scabrosus: a new Terrestrial Predatory Crocodyliform From late Cretaceous Brazil

Gondwanasuchus scabrosus gen. et sp. nov., a new terrestrial predatory crocodyliform (Mesoeucrocodylia: Baurusuchidae) from the Late Cretaceous Bauru Basin of Brazil

Authors:

1. Thiago da Silva Marinho (a)
2. Fabiano Vidoi Iori (b)
3. Ismar de Souza Carvalho (b)
4. Felipe Mesquita de Vasconcellos (b)

Affiliations:

a. Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Naturais e Educação, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Av. Getúlio Guaritá, 159 Bairro Abadia, Uberaba, MG 38025-440, Brazil

b. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Centro de Ciências Matemáticas e da Natureza, Instituto de Geociências, Departamento de Geologia, Av. Athos da Silveira Ramos, 274, Bloco F, Ilha do Fundão – Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21949-900, Brazil

Abstract:

Baurusuchids are among the most common and diverse crocodyliform fossils from the Late Cretaceous Bauru Basin of Brazil. This inland continental basin was the habitat of a rich crocodyliform fauna containing five mesoeucrocodylian families, of which the Baurusuchidae represents highly specialized predatory crocodyliforms of terrestrial habits as indicated by their dental, cranial, and postcranial features. The large size they achieved, together with likely predatory adaptations, would suggest they competed and occupied theropod ecological niches in the Bauru Basin. Here we describe Gondwanasuchus scabrosus gen. et sp. nov., a medium-sized baurusuchid with a strongly laterally compressed skull, bearing unique dentition with deep apicobasal sulci and probably well-developed binocular vision. The cranial and dental features in Gondwanasuchus suggest that this active predator would have fed on small vertebrates and took the role of small theropods in terrestrial guild. Gondwanasuchus is the most distinctive baurusuchid known to date and enriches the knowledge on these important Gondwanan terrestrial predatory crocodyliforms.