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Sebecus
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Sebecus
Sebecus (meaning "Sobek" in Latin) is an extinct genus of sebecid crocodylomorph from Paleogene period of South America. Like other sebecosuchians, it was entirely terrestrial and carnivorous. The genus is currently represented by two species, the type S. icaeorhinus and S. ayrampu. Several other species have been referred to Sebecus, but were later reclassified as their own genera.
Because it is represented by relatively complete fossil material, Sebecus has been used to define larger groups of crocodyliforms such as Sebecidae and Sebecosuchia. The suborder Sebecosuchia was established to group Sebecus with Baurusuchus and has grown to include many other sebecid and baurusuchid members. While Sebecus and Baurusuchus are well known, other forms are known from only a few fragmentary specimens.
Sebecus has been placed in various positions among metasuchian crocodyliforms. It has often been placed in a larger sebecosuchian clade. Carvalho et al. (2004) used Sebecus in their definition of Sebecidae, considering the clade to include the most recent common ancestor of Sebecus and Libycosuchus and all of its descendants. Carvalho et al. also established a sebecisuchian clade that was defined using Sebecus and referred to as Baurusuchoidea. Sebecus and other sebecosuchians are often contrasted with the smaller-bodied Cretaceous notosuchians. Turner and Calvo (2005) considered Sebecosuchia to be the sister taxon of Notosuchia and placed Sebecus as a basal member the clade. Several recent phylogenetic analyses have resulted in a polyphyletic Sebecosuchia, with some members such as Baurusuchus being more closely related to notosuchians and other such as Sebecus forming a clade of metasuchians more distantly related to Notosuchia. Larsson and Sues (2007) named this clade Sebecia. The following cladogram simplified after an analysis of notosuchians presented by Pol et al. in 2012.
*Note: Based on a specimen that was reassigned from Peirosaurus.
Even though Zulmasuchus and Langstonia were found to be distinct from Sebecus, some authors still uses the original classification, as all in Sebecus. But this classification is currently not a major scientific consensus.
Named by American paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson in 1937, Sebecus was one of the first known sebecosuchians. Simpson described the type species, S. icaeorhinus, from a fragmented skull and lower jaw found in the Sarmiento Formation. The specimen was discovered by the American Museum of Natural History's First Scarritt Expedition to Patagonia, during 1930 and 1931. Teeth had been known since 1906 when Argentine paleontologist Florentino Ameghino associated them with carnivorous dinosaurs. The more complete material found by Simpson firmly established that the new animal was a crocodyliform. Although Simpson's fossil was considered one of the best finds of the expedition, Simpson described the genus only briefly in 1937. He noted its unusual ziphodont dentition in which the teeth were laterally compressed and serrated. Simpson was preparing a more detailed monograph on the genus, but entered the United States Army before its completion. Another American paleontologist, Edwin Harris Colbert, completed Simpson's work, thoroughly describing the genus and placing it in a new family, Sebecidae. Colbert placed Sebecus and the Cretaceous baurusuchid Baurusuchus (also from South America) in the suborder Sebecosuchia (erected by Simpson for all ziphodont crocodylomorphs), as both had deep snouts and ziphodont teeth.
The name Sebecus is a Latinisation of Sobek (also called Sebek), the crocodile god of ancient Egypt. Sebek was considered an alternative to the Greek χάμψα, or "champsa" in crocodilian nomenclature (the Greek historian Herodotus claimed that champsa was the Egyptian word for crocodile). The specific name icaeorhinus of the type species is derived from the Greek words εικαίοs and ῥῑνός. Εικαίοs means "random" or "not according to plan" and ῥῑνός means "nose", in reference to the animal's unusually deep snout.
In 1965, American paleontologist Wann Langston, Jr. named a second species, S. huilensis, from the Miocene Honda Group at the La Venta locality in Colombia. S. huilensis was named on the basis of skull fragments. The deposits are Laventan in age (about 13 million years old), extending the range of the genus into the Neogene by around 40 million years. In 1977, remains were described from the Miocene of Peru.
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Sebecus
Sebecus (meaning "Sobek" in Latin) is an extinct genus of sebecid crocodylomorph from Paleogene period of South America. Like other sebecosuchians, it was entirely terrestrial and carnivorous. The genus is currently represented by two species, the type S. icaeorhinus and S. ayrampu. Several other species have been referred to Sebecus, but were later reclassified as their own genera.
Because it is represented by relatively complete fossil material, Sebecus has been used to define larger groups of crocodyliforms such as Sebecidae and Sebecosuchia. The suborder Sebecosuchia was established to group Sebecus with Baurusuchus and has grown to include many other sebecid and baurusuchid members. While Sebecus and Baurusuchus are well known, other forms are known from only a few fragmentary specimens.
Sebecus has been placed in various positions among metasuchian crocodyliforms. It has often been placed in a larger sebecosuchian clade. Carvalho et al. (2004) used Sebecus in their definition of Sebecidae, considering the clade to include the most recent common ancestor of Sebecus and Libycosuchus and all of its descendants. Carvalho et al. also established a sebecisuchian clade that was defined using Sebecus and referred to as Baurusuchoidea. Sebecus and other sebecosuchians are often contrasted with the smaller-bodied Cretaceous notosuchians. Turner and Calvo (2005) considered Sebecosuchia to be the sister taxon of Notosuchia and placed Sebecus as a basal member the clade. Several recent phylogenetic analyses have resulted in a polyphyletic Sebecosuchia, with some members such as Baurusuchus being more closely related to notosuchians and other such as Sebecus forming a clade of metasuchians more distantly related to Notosuchia. Larsson and Sues (2007) named this clade Sebecia. The following cladogram simplified after an analysis of notosuchians presented by Pol et al. in 2012.
*Note: Based on a specimen that was reassigned from Peirosaurus.
Even though Zulmasuchus and Langstonia were found to be distinct from Sebecus, some authors still uses the original classification, as all in Sebecus. But this classification is currently not a major scientific consensus.
Named by American paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson in 1937, Sebecus was one of the first known sebecosuchians. Simpson described the type species, S. icaeorhinus, from a fragmented skull and lower jaw found in the Sarmiento Formation. The specimen was discovered by the American Museum of Natural History's First Scarritt Expedition to Patagonia, during 1930 and 1931. Teeth had been known since 1906 when Argentine paleontologist Florentino Ameghino associated them with carnivorous dinosaurs. The more complete material found by Simpson firmly established that the new animal was a crocodyliform. Although Simpson's fossil was considered one of the best finds of the expedition, Simpson described the genus only briefly in 1937. He noted its unusual ziphodont dentition in which the teeth were laterally compressed and serrated. Simpson was preparing a more detailed monograph on the genus, but entered the United States Army before its completion. Another American paleontologist, Edwin Harris Colbert, completed Simpson's work, thoroughly describing the genus and placing it in a new family, Sebecidae. Colbert placed Sebecus and the Cretaceous baurusuchid Baurusuchus (also from South America) in the suborder Sebecosuchia (erected by Simpson for all ziphodont crocodylomorphs), as both had deep snouts and ziphodont teeth.
The name Sebecus is a Latinisation of Sobek (also called Sebek), the crocodile god of ancient Egypt. Sebek was considered an alternative to the Greek χάμψα, or "champsa" in crocodilian nomenclature (the Greek historian Herodotus claimed that champsa was the Egyptian word for crocodile). The specific name icaeorhinus of the type species is derived from the Greek words εικαίοs and ῥῑνός. Εικαίοs means "random" or "not according to plan" and ῥῑνός means "nose", in reference to the animal's unusually deep snout.
In 1965, American paleontologist Wann Langston, Jr. named a second species, S. huilensis, from the Miocene Honda Group at the La Venta locality in Colombia. S. huilensis was named on the basis of skull fragments. The deposits are Laventan in age (about 13 million years old), extending the range of the genus into the Neogene by around 40 million years. In 1977, remains were described from the Miocene of Peru.
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