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Instances of dwarfism in the fossil record are of interest to palaeontologists because they often provide insight into aspects of palaeoecology. Fossil species of Australian-Pacific mekosuchine genus Mekosuchus have been described as dwarf, primarily terrestrial crocodiles, in contrast with the nearly ubiquitous semi-aquatic habitus of extant crocodilians (Willis 1997). This hypothesis has been difficult to test because of limited knowledge of the cranial and postcranial skeleton of extinct taxa and the continuous nature of crocodilian growth. New crocodilian vertebral material from Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, tentatively referred to Mekosuchus whitehunterensis, displays morphological maturity indicative of adult snout-vent length little over a half-meter, proportionally smaller than extant dwarf taxa. Further, this material displays morphology that indicates a relatively large epaxial neck musculature for its body-size. These attributes suggest this dwarf mekosuchine employed unusual feeding behaviours. The ability to perform normal death-roll, de-fleshing behaviours would be limited in a mekosuchine of such small size. Given the powerful neck muscles and other anatomical features, it is more likely that this mekosuchine killed and/or dismembered its prey using a relatively forceful lifting and shaking of the head.
The phylogenetic relationships of the Paleocene crocodylian Akanthosuchus langstoni are assessed using published data matrices and morphological data from the holotype and referred specimens. Cladistic analyses indicate that Akanthosuchus is unequivocally nested within Alligatoroidea. Weak support from a majority rule consensus tree indicates that Akanthosuchus may be more closely allied with alligatorines than with caimanines, but in the strict consensus tree these relationships remain ambiguous. There is no evidence from phylogenetic analyses to support the hypothesis that Akanthosuchus represents the postcrania of the Paleocene crocodylians Navajosuchus or Ceratosuchus. Growth marks observed in histological sections of osteoderms of the holotype of Akanthosuchus langstoni indicate that it was at least eight years old at the time of death. Although the individual may not have been fully mature at the time of death, lineage dwarfism cannot be ruled out as a possible reason for its relatively small size.
Originally designated by Dollo in 1907, the holotype of Eosuchus lerichei has never been carefully described but simply cited and compared in a number of papers. This work is an attempt to fill this gap and to place this taxon in a cladistic phylogenetic context. E. lerichei can be considered a valid basal gavialoid from late Paleocene of North Western Europe, sharing the presence of extremely enlarged foramina aerea on quadrates with the coeval Eosuchus minor from eastern North America (formerly described as Gavialis minor). These two species can be considered sister taxa and, for priority reason, they should be both ascribed to genus Eosuchus. The results of the cladistic analysis show that the European species possess characters that can be considered as slightly derived if compared to those of its American relative, suggesting an eastward dispersion from North America before the Paleocene–Eocene boundary and before the full opening of the Atlantic Ocean or local evolution from a basal gavialoid stock similar to E. minor. Both species of Eosuchus come from marine outcrops and represent a further evidence for the salt−water tolerance of the earliest stages of Gavialoidea evolutionary history. Despite the present endemicity of the only living gharial, Gavialis gangeticus, the historical biogeography of gavialoids shows a lost global distribution and reveals several transoceanic dispersals.
The Pteraichnustrackmaker is usually hypothesized to be either a pterosaur or a crocodilian. Though the latter interpretation is recently not widely accepted, more experimental work on trackways of extant crocodilians is necessary to settle the debate. Here, the trackways of three species of modern crocodiles (Paleosuchus trigonatus, Crocodylus porosus, and Tomistoma schlegelii) in all major gaits and postures, namely sprawling, walking and running, were compared with Pteraichnus trackways. In all experimentally generated crocodilian trackways pentadactyl manus tracks are recognized, the external width between pes tracks is wider than the corresponding internal width between manus tracks, and tail marks are usually present. All crocodilian trackways collected in the present study revealed significant differences from Pteraichnus, which strongly suggests a non−crocodilian origin of Pteraichnus.
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