Re-description of the cranial morphology of Mariliasuchus amarali, and its phylogenetic affinities (Crocodyliformes, Notosuchia)

ZAHER, H.; POL, D.; CARVALHO, A.; RICCOMINI, C.; CAMPOS, D.; NAVA, W.

AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES

American Museum of Natural History

Lugar: New York; Año: 2006 vol. 3512 p. 1 - 40

0003-0082

Mariliasuchus amarali was originally described based on a juvenile specimen with an almost complete skull and partially preserved post-cranium. M. amarali was suggested to be more closely related to Notosuchus terrestris than to any other notosuchian taxon, allocating it in the family Notosuchidae along with the genera Notosuchus and Malawisuchus. We present here a re-description of the species based on complete skulls of a subadult and two adult specimens found in the same locality from where the type-specimen was collected. The new material described here allows a more careful evaluation of the phylogenetic affinities of Mariliasuchus amarali reconsidering its phylogenetic position. In our results, Mariliasuchus is depicted as the sister group of Comahuesuchus, based on the presence of four synapomorphic characters unique to these two taxa.