HYLAEOCHAMPSIDAE ANDREWS, 1913

Buscalioni, Angela D., Piras, Paolo, Vullo, Romain, Signore, Marco & Barbera, Carmela, 2011, Early eusuchia crocodylomorpha from the vertebrate-rich Plattenkalk of Pietraroia (Lower Albian, southern Apennines, Italy), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 163 (5), pp. 644-645 : 644-645

HYLAEOCHAMPSIDAE ANDREWS, 1913

Definition

A node-based clade stemming from the most recent common ancestor of Hylaeochampsa vectiana Andrews, 1913 , Iharkutosuchus makadii Ösi et al., 2007 , Pachycheilosuchus trinquei Rogers, 2003 , and Pietraroiasuchus ormezzanoi .

Revised diagnosis of hylaeochampsidae: Small eusuchians with brevirostral skull and thickned cranial and postcranial bones. Premaxillary (unknown in Hylaeochampsa and in Pachycheilosuchus ) and anterior maxillary alveolar series of subequal size, maxilla posteriorly extends in a process devoid of teeth, minimal sculpturing of maxillary surface, reduced number of maxillary teeth, prefrontal longer than lachrymal (differing in Pietraroiasuchus , whereby the prefrontal and lachrymal are the same size, and unknown in P. trinquei ); extremely narrow suborbital fenestra (unambiguous synapomorphy for the clade); choana anteriorly set in pterygoid (unknown in P. trinquei ), pterygoid flanges relatively short and not reaching laterally the level of the quadrate medial condyle (unknown in P. trinquei ), extremely robust ectopterygoid with expanded jugal and maxilla sutures, protuberance in the ventral surface of the quadrate with prominent muscle scars (unambiguous synapomorphy for the clade); vertical ridge at the occipital surface (unambiguous synapomorphy for the clade, unknown in P. trinquei ), reduced anteroposterior extension of the quadrate articular process that does not (but may almost) reach the level of the occipital condyle (unambiguous synapomorphy for the clade, unknown in P. trinquei ), anterodorsal margin of surangular elevated and extended (unknown in Hylaeochampsa ).