Suchians Temporal range: Early Triassic - Recent, 249.7–0 Ma |
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Prestosuchus chiniquensis, an early suchian | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
Clade: |
Suchia Krebs, 1974 |
Subgroups | |
Suchia is a clade of archosaurs that includes all pseudosuchians except for the ornithosuchids. It includes crocodilians and their extinct relatives. It was defined as the least inclusive clade containing Aetosaurus ferratus, Rauisuchus tiradentes, Prestosuchus chiniquensis, Gracilisuchus stipanicicorum, and Crocodylus niloticus (the living Nile crocodile) by Nesbitt (2011).
It was originally defined by Krebs in 1974. Paul Sereno provided a different definition, which included Gracilisuchus stipanicicorum, Aetosauria, Rauisuchia, Poposauridae, Crocodylomorpha, and all descendants of their common ancestor. Nesbitt (2011) redefined it as the least inclusive clade containing Aetosaurus ferratus, Rauisuchus tiradentes, Prestosuchus chiniquensis, and Crocodylus niloticus (the living Nile crocodile). Suchia, therefore, is a node-based taxon. It includes crocodylomorphs and more basal Triassic forms like aetosaurs and rauisuchians. Butler et al. (2011) found that Suchia includes Gracilisuchus, Turfanosuchus, Revueltosaurus, Aetosauria, Ticinosuchus, and paracrocodylomorphs.