Sissokosuchus: Expanding Africa's Notosuchian Record
We got a fascinating new croc on our hands, tho I'll be the first to admitt that its actual material is much less interesting than the implications that come with it. Meet Sissokosuchus maliensis (Sissoko's crocodile from Mali), a new genus of itasuchid notosuchian from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian to Albian) of, well, Mali.
Like I said, the material itself isn't much to look at I admitt, multiple specimens and yet we don't even have a complete skull, but the material is enough to give us some general ideas. Most importantly is arguably the fact that the lower jaw is rather narrow while the overall snout is roughly triangular and platyrostral, i.e. its flattened like in modern crocs. These are hallmarks of a group of notosuchians known as the Itasuchidae (or Pepesuchinae is you ask other people). Classically, itasuchids are regarded as a South American group, where most of their diversity is from. But recent works has suggested that they might have ranged into Africa too, with the enigmatic Stolokrosuchus and the peirosaurid Rukwasuchus both recovered as early branching members of the family in this newest study as well as last year's description of Epoidesuchus. Sissokosuchus is a bit more derived still than these two, and together these three significantly expand on the record of notosuchians from continental Africa, which previously consisted of canidodontids, mahajangasuchids, uruguaysuchids and of course peirosaurids.
Epoidesuchus by Guilherme Gehr, not from Africa but it gives you a general idea of itasuchids.
In addition to expanding the notosuchian record, the paper also draws up an interesting hypothesis for the geography of Mali during this part of the Cretaceous. Summarized, the Continental Intercalaire of Mali may represent the downstream part of a larger West African river system known as the Paleo-Tegama River System, which is formed by various rivers coming from the east and south and eventually empties into the Tethys Sea in the north. While Sissokosuchus is from the northern downstream part, the upstream region is preserved through the famed formations of the Tegama Group, namely the Elrhaz and Echkar Formations of Niger. Both Formations are well known for their fossils, including Nigersaurus, Suchomimus, Ouranosuchus and yes Spinosaurus. They are also well known for their crocodile material, featuring giant neosuchians like Sarcosuchus and Elosuchus, the bizarre Laganosuchus, small uruguaysuchids like Anatosuchus and the ever present Araripesuchus (which is found in both formations) and of course my personal favourite Kaprosuchus.
Left: A map of West Africa during the Early Cretaceous Right: Sarcosuchus taking down an abelisaur by Sergey Krasovskiy
So even if the material itself isn't mindblowing, Sissokosuchus goes a long way at improving our understanding of notosuchian paleogeography, their diversity in Africa and the paleogeography and environment of Early Cretaceous West Africa.
Wikipedia page: Sissokosuchus - Wikipedia
and the original publication: A new itasuchid (Crocodyliformes, Notosuchia) from the Early Cretaceous of Mali and the ancient Paleo-Tegama river system of Gondwana: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access
PS: I really need to get back to my monthly croc science recaps, theres been a lot going on but I took on a new large scale Wikipedia project related to some recent news thats kept me busy