Un nuevo cocodrilo eusuquio basal de Lo Hueco en las VI Jornadas de Salas de los Infantes

Los cocodrilos fueron otro de los grupos que se trataron entre los trabajos presentados en las VI Jornadas Internacionales sobre Paleontología de Dinosaurios y su Entorno de Salas de los Infantes (Burgos). En concreto, se expuso una comunicación en la que se presentaba un nuevo taxón de cocodrilo eusuquio del Cretácico Superior de Lo Hueco (Fuentes, Cuenca), discutiendo su posición filogenética y sus implicaciones biogeográficas.

El resumen es el siguiente:

The radiation of modern crocodiles is a topic of intense debate in the literature. Some of the taxa directly involved in the interpretation of the radiation of the crown-group Crocodylia come from the European Late Cretaceous. However, the recent discovery of new taxa and review of the phylogenetic position of some of them are changing the role of the European record in the knowledge of the early history of Crocodylia.
Until now, the European Late Cretaceous record was dominated by small forms, such as Iharkutosuchus from the Santonian of Hungary and Acynodon from Campanian-Maastrichtian of Spain, France and Italy, grouped as Hylaeochampsidae; and Allodaposuchus and similar forms from Romania, France and Spain. European Late Cretaceous putative members of crown-group Crocodylia include Thoracosaurus (Gavialoidea) from France, the Netherlands and Crimea; Arenysuchus (Crocodyloidea) from Spain; and the alligatoroids Massaliasuchus and Musturzabalsuchus from France and Spain. However, some of these are based on few conclusive specimens and their phylogenetic position merits review.
The upper Campanian-lower Maastrichtian fossil site of Lo Hueco (Fuentes, Cuenca Province, Spain) has yielded abundant remains of basal eusuchians, including well-preserved skulls with associated jaws. Among the eusuchian remains identified at Lo Hueco is material attributable to two different forms, both with features suggesting a close relationship with Allodaposuchus, but also showing remarkable differences.
One of these, represented by several specimens, is a new form characterized by a short rounded rostrum and hypertrophied, but not globular, teeth both in the maxilla and the dentary, a combination of features previously unknown in the Late Cretaceous of Europe.
We will discuss the diagnosis of this new close relative to Allodaposuchus and its implications for the interpretation of the phylogeny and distribution of other European Late Cretaceous related forms. Furthermore, reanalysis of the European record of Late Cretaceous crocodiles indicates that there is a set of forms closely related to Allodaposuchus constituting a diverse sister-group of Crocodylia, including most European non-Hylaeochampsidae eusuchians.