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Portugalosuchus

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Portugalosuchus

Portugalosuchus (meaning "crocodile from Portugal") is an extinct genus of eusuchian crocodyliform that was possibly a basal crocodylian – if so then it would be the oldest known crocodylian to date. The type species is P. azenhae, described in 2018, and it is known from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)-aged Tentugal Formation in Portugal. A 2021 morphological study recovered Portugalosuchus within Crocodylia as a member of Gavialidae closely related to similar "thoracosaurs" (e.g. Thoracosaurus), while also noting that it might also possibly be outside of Crocodylia completely. A 2022 tip dating analysis incorporating both morphological and DNA data placed Portugalosuchus outside of Crocodylia, as the sister taxon of the family Allodaposuchidae. A cladogram simplified after that analysis is shown below:

The morphology-based phylogenetic analyses based on the new neuroanatomical data obtained from its skull using micro-CT scans suggested that this taxon is a crown group crocodilian and a member of the 'thoracosaurs', recovered as a sister taxon of Thoracosaurus within Gavialoidea, though it is uncertain whether 'thoracosaurs' were true gavialoids.

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