Candidodon
Extinct genus of reptiles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Candidodon is an extinct genus of notosuchian mesoeucrocodylian. Fossils have been found in the Early Cretaceous Itapecuru Formation and Alcântara Formation in Brazil.
| Candidodon Temporal range: Albian ~ | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Clade: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Clade: | †Notosuchia |
| Family: | †Candidodontidae |
| Genus: | †Candidodon Carvalho & Campos 1988 |
| Species | |
| |
Description
The genus is characterized by a particularly elongate pair of choanae in its palate.[1] It has been named the type genus of the family Candidodontidae, first constructed in 2004.[2] It was initially assigned to the family with a proposed sister genus, Mariliasuchus, but a recent phylogenetic analysis has shown that Mariliasuchus may instead be closer in relation to Comahuesuchus than to Candidodon and thus a member of the family Comahuesuchidae.[3] If this is true, Candidodon would be the only member of the family Candidodontidae.