The evolution of mammal-like crocodyliforms in the Cretaceous Period of Gondwana

Patrick M. O’Connor (), Joseph J. W. Sertich, Nancy J. Stevens, Eric M. Roberts, Michael D. Gottfried, Tobin L. Hieronymus, Zubair A. Jinnah, Ryan Ridgely, Sifa E. Ngasala and Jesuit Temba
Additional contact information
Patrick M. O’Connor: Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, 228 Irvine Hall, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
Joseph J. W. Sertich: Stony Brook University
Nancy J. Stevens: Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, 228 Irvine Hall, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
Eric M. Roberts: Southern Utah University
Michael D. Gottfried: Michigan State University
Tobin L. Hieronymus: Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy
Zubair A. Jinnah: School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, Johannesburg, South Africa
Ryan Ridgely: Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, 228 Irvine Hall, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
Sifa E. Ngasala: Michigan State University
Jesuit Temba: Tanzania Antiquities Unit, PO Box 2280, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Nature, 2010, vol. 466, issue 7307, 748-751

Abstract: The 'mammals' of the south Of all the fauna of the Cretaceous period (144 million to 65 million years ago), dinosaurs get most public attention, with mammals a distant second. Less well known is the spectacular adaptive radiation that occurred among crocodyliforms in the southern continents of Gondwana at this time. The notosuchians (or 'southern crocodiles') evolved all manner of strange forms. Their teeth, in particular, were most uncrocodile-like: rather than a line of undifferentiated conical fangs, the teeth were often specialized for biting and crushing, as seen in mammals. A new small-bodied, fossil crocodyliform discovered from Cretaceous sedimentary deposits in the Rukwa Rift Basin of southwestern Tanzania reveals further evidence of convergent morphological evolution. It has dentition capable of the crown-to-crown contact characteristic of mastication and shares almost all of the dental characteristics considered to be 'mammalian'. And in adding a small-bodied constituent to the terrestrial fauna of the region, this find strongly suggests that the notosuchians occupied ecological niches in Gondwana that were the realm of mammals in the northern continents.

Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1038/nature09061

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