Iharkutosuchus

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title: "Iharkutosuchus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["late-cretaceous-crocodylomorphs-of-europe", "late-cretaceous-reptiles-of-europe", "hylaeochampsidae", "prehistoric-pseudosuchian-genera", "fossil-taxa-described-in-2007"] description: "Extinct genus of reptiles" topic_path: "general/late-cretaceous-crocodylomorphs-of-europe" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iharkutosuchus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of reptiles ::

| fossil_range = Late Cretaceous, Santonian | image = Iharkutosuchus.jpg | image_caption = Holotype skull | image2 = Iharkutosuchus skull diagram.png | image2_caption = Skull diagram | display_parents = 4 | taxon = Iharkutosuchus | authority = Ősi et al., 2007 | type_species = Iharkutosuchus makadii | type_species_authority = Ősi et al., 2007

Iharkutosuchus ("Iharkút crocodile", after where it was found) is an extinct genus of basal eusuchian crocodyliform. Its fossils have been found in the Santonian-aged (Late Cretaceous) Csehbánya Formation in the Bakony Mountains of western Hungary.

Description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Iharkutosuchus_size_reference.png" caption="Hypothetical size comparison of ''Iharkutosuchus'' to a [[cat]], with silhouette and osteoderms based on ''[[Pietraroiasuchus]]''"] ::

Iharkutosuchus is based on MTM 2006.52.1, a nearly complete skull, but several other partial skulls, isolated skull bones, and numerous teeth are also known. It was a small crocodyliform, with a skull length up to 11.1 cm, and estimated body length of 80 cm. Its skull was low, and the snout was short. Iharkutosuchus is unusual in its heterodonty: some of its teeth were complex and multicusped, like mammal teeth. The structure of the skull indicates that it could grind food with a mobile lower jaw, an inference corroborated by the extensive horizontal wear facets on its teeth, and together with the teeth suggest a diet of fibrous plant material.

Classification

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Iharkutosuchus_jaw_muscle_reference_and_life_reconstruction.png" caption="Top: Jaw musculature diagram, based on Ősi & Weishampel (2009). Bottom: Life reconstruction"] ::

The genus was described in 2007 by Attila Ősi and colleagues. The type species is I. makadii, named for László Makádi. A 2011 phylogenetic study recovered Iharkutosuchus as a member of the Hylaeochampsidae, a group of basal eusuchians, as shown in the cladogram below.{{clade| style=font-size:85%;line-height:85% |label1=Eusuchia |1={{clade |1={{clade |label1=Hylaeochampsidae |1={{clade |1=Hylaeochampsa |2={{clade |1=Iharkutosuchus |2={{clade |1=Pietraroiasuchus |2=Pachycheilosuchus }} }} }} |2=Allodaposuchus }} |2=Crocodylia }} }}

References

References

1. (6 September 2021). "Phylogenetic analysis of a new morphological dataset elucidates the evolutionary history of Crocodylia and resolves the long-standing gharial problem". [[PeerJ]].
2. (4 May 2014). "The evolution of jaw mechanism and dental function in heterodont crocodyliforms". [[Historical Biology]].
3. (2007). "First report on a new eusuchian crocodyliform with multicusped teeth from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) of Hungary". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen.
4. (2009). "Jaw mechanism and dental function in the Late Cretaceous basal eusuchian ''Iharkutosuchus''". [[Journal of Morphology]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::