Anatosuchus ("duck crocodile", for the broad, duck-like snout) is an extinct genus of notosuchian crocodylomorph discovered in Gadoufaoua, Niger, and described by a team of palaeontologists led by the American Paul Sereno in 2003, in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.[1] Its duck-like snout coincidentally makes it resemble a crocoduck, an imagined hybrid animal with the head of a crocodile and the body of a duck.
Specimens and discovery[]
The type species of Anatosuchus is A. minor, in reference to its small body size. The holotype material (MNN GDF603), is a nearly complete skull with articulated lower jaws. It was discovered from the upper portion of the Elrhaz Formation and lower portion of Echkar Formation, indicating an Early Cretaceous (Late Aptian or Early Albian) age.
Systematics[]
In the initial description of Anatosuchus, it formed a clade with Comahuesuchus, within a less inclusve Notosuchia, also found to be monophyletic.[1] However, further work proposed that Anatosuchus is not closely related to Comahuesuchus.