Microsuchus

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title: "Microsuchus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["late-cretaceous-crocodylomorphs-of-south-america", "santonian-life", "cretaceous-argentina", "fossils-of-argentina", "bajo-de-la-carpa-formation", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1928", "prehistoric-pseudosuchian-genera"] description: "Extinct genus of reptiles" topic_path: "geography/argentina" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsuchus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of reptiles ::

| taxon = Microsuchus | fossil_range = Santonian ~ | authority = De Saez, 1928 | type_species = Microsuchus schilleri | type_species_authority = De Saez, 1928

Microsuchus is an extinct genus of mesoeucrocodylians, belonging to Notosuchia. Fossils have been found in the Bajo de la Carpa Formation, dating to the Santonian stage of the Late Cretaceous.

Classification

Originally classified as a goniopholidid on the basis of the platycoelous vertebral centra, Microsuchus was recently redescribed and recovered as either a neosuchian or notosuchian. Diagnostic features include the presence of a bulge lateral to the prezygapophyses of the second sacral vertebra, elongated posterior zeugopodia, and proximal caudal centra with a triangular cross section. A 2017 cladistic analysis of Razanandrongobe further clarified the phylogenetic position of Microsuchus by recovering it as a primitive notosuchian.

References

References

1. Mook, C. C.. (1934). "The evolution and classification of the crocodilia". The Journal of Geology.
2. Markwick, P. J.. (1998). "Crocodilian diversity in space and time: The role of climate in paleoecology and its implication for understanding K/T extinctions". Paleobiology.
3. Saez, M. D. d.. (1928). "Un nuevo goniofolido Argentino". Anales de la Sociedad Cientifica Argentina, Buenos Aires.
4. (2015). "Redescription and reevaluation of the taxonomical status of ''Microsuchus schilleri'' (Crocodyliformes: Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Neuquén, Argentina". Cretaceous Research.
5. Dal Sasso C, Pasini G, Fleury G, Maganuco S. (2017) Razanandrongobe sakalavae, a gigantic mesoeucrocodylian from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar, is the oldest known notosuchian. PeerJ 5:e3481 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3481

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