| Montsecosuchus Temporal range:Early Cretaceous | |
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Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauria |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Clade: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Clade: | Crocodyliformes |
| Family: | †Atoposauridae |
| Genus: | †Montsecosuchus Buscalioni and Sanz,1990 |
| Type species | |
| †Montsecosuchus depereti (Vidal, 1915 [originallyAlligatorium]) | |
Montsecosuchus is anextinctgenus ofatoposauridcrocodylomorphs. It is the replacement generic name forAlligatorium depereti, which was described in 1915 from the MontsecLithographic Limestonequarry ofSpain.[1] Fossils found from this locality are from theEarly Cretaceous, being UpperBerriasian-LowerValanginian in age, belonging to theLa Pedrera de Rúbies Formation[2] While many publications concerning atoposaurids after 1915 have included mentions ofA. depereti, none has offered a redescription or revision of the species, though some recognized that great differences existed between it and other members of the genus.[3][4] In these publications, the skull ofA. depereti was shorter in relation to body length than any other species ofAlligatorium (being less than half of the presacral length), and this may have been evidence for the genetic distinction of the species, although no replacement name was proposed.[5][6] However, better preparation of the holotype specimen MGB 512, a nearly complete articulated skeleton embedded in a limestone matrix now housed in theMuseu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona,[7] allowed for a revision of the species in 1990 in which the nameMontsecosuchus was first used.[8]
Montsecosuchus differs in several ways from other atoposaurids such asAlligatorium,Alligatorellus, andTheriosuchus. Several characteristics of the skull including the presence of an ungroovedparietal-squamosal suture and a caudally projecting retroarticular process distinguishMontsecosuchus from these genera. BothMontsecosuchus andAlligatorellus possess three sacral vertebrae; this may be a sharedsynapomorphy of the two genera. The shortness of theradius is an autapomorphy of the genus that is not seen in any other atoposaurid, although it is common in more derived crocodylomorphs.
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