Unasuchus

Unasuchus; Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Barremian
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauria
Clade:	Pseudosuchia
Clade:	Crocodylomorpha
Clade:	Neosuchia
Clade:	Eusuchia
Family:	†Hylaeochampsidae
Genus:	†Unasuchus; Brinkmann, 1992
Species
	†U. reginae Brinkmann, 1992 (type);

Unasuchus is an extinct genus of Early Cretaceous eusuchian belonging to the family Hylaeochampsidae. The genus is named after Uña, a municipality in central Spain where fossils have been found.^[1]

Discovery and classification

Unasuchus is known only from skull and jaw fragments, meaning that it initially defied precise classification within Crocodyliformes, but the cladistic analysis of Turcosuchus recovers Unasuchus as a derived hylaeochampsid.^[2]^[3] These remains have been found from the Barremian Las Hoyas Formation.^[4] The type species, U. reginae, was named in 1992.

References

^ Ortega, F.; Moratalla, J.J.; Buscalioni, A.; Sanz, J.L.; Jiménez, S.; Valbuena, J. (1996). "Sobre la presencia de un cocodrilo fósil (Crocodylomorpha: Neosuchia: Goniopholis sp.) en la cuenca de Cameros (Cretácico inferior: Vadillos-San Román de Cameros, La Rioja)". Zubía. 14: 113–120.
^ Martin, J.E.; Delfino, M. (2010). "Recent advances in the comprehension of the biogeography of Cretaceous European eusuchians". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 293 (3): 406–418. Bibcode:2010PPP...293..406M. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.10.021.
^ Stéphane Jouve; Volkan Sarıgül; J.-Sébastien Steyer; Sevket Sen (2017). "The first crocodylomorph from the Mesozoic of Turkey (Barremian of Zonguldak) and the dispersal of the eusuchians during the Cretaceous". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 17 (2): 111–128. doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1393469. S2CID 90379747.
^ Sanz, J.L.; Fregenal-Martínez, M.A.; Meléndez, N.; Ortega, F. (2001). "3.4.9 Las Hoyas". In Briggs, D.E.G.; Crowther, P.R. (eds.). Palaeobiology II. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 356–359. ISBN 9780632051496.