Candidodontidae
| Candidodontidae Temporal range: Early Cretaceous - ?Late Cretaceous |
|
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Node: | †Ziphosuchia |
| Family: |
†Candidodontidae Carvalho et al., 2004 |
| Genera | |
Candidodontidae is a family of notosuchian crocodyliforms. It was originally used in 2002 as a name for a clade that includes the genera Araripesuchus, Candidodon, and Malawisuchus. Later in 2004 the family was formally defined as a node-based taxon including Candidodon itapecuruense and Mariliasuchus amarali. A 2009 study redefined Candidodontidae as a stem-based taxon which included Candidodon, Malawisuchus, and possibly Mariliasuchus.
The first formal definition of the family does not fit well with many phylogenetic studies of notosuchians that place Candidodon and Mariliasuchus far apart. If this definition were to be used, Candidodontidae would include the last common ancestor of Candidodon and Mariliasuchus and all of its descendants. According to these studies, these descendants would include many other genera and families, some of which were named before Candidodontidae and thus would have priority over it.
A new definition was given in 2009 in which Candidodontidae was considered a stem-based taxon. Under this definition, Candidodontidae includes all taxa more closely related to Candidodon itapecuruensis than to Notosuchus terrestris, Uruguaysuchus aznarezi, Comahuesuchus brachybuccalis, Sphagesaurus huenei, Baurusuchus pachecoi, and Crocodylus niloticus. The number of species that are less closely related to these taxa are called specifiers, and were used to insure that Candidodontidae did not become overly inclusive if Candidodon was placed in a different phylogenetic position in the future. According to the 2009 study, Candidodontidae includes Candidodon, Malawisuchus, and possibly Mariliasuchus.
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