A NEW NEOSUCHIAN CROCODYLIFORM FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS (LATE APTIAN) TWIN MOUNTAINS FORMATION OF NORTH-CENTRAL TEXAS

A new fossil crocodyliform, Paluxysuchus newmani, gen. et sp. nov., is established on the basis of a nearly complete skull from the Lower Cretaceous (late Aptian) Twin Mountains Formation of north-central Texas. Partially articulated and disarticulated cranial material representing two individuals was recovered from the Jones Ranch locality in close association with the sauropod Paluxysaurus jonesi. The holotype skull is nearly complete, missing the premaxillae, left palatine, and pterygoids, and does not preserve the choanal region. This taxon is notable for having its frontal separated medially from the orbital margin, an extremely elongate anterolateral process of the postorbital, large and rounded supratemporal fenestrae, and a narrow, rod-like posterior ramus of the jugal. These features indicate affinities with goniopholidids, pholidosaurids, and thalattosuchians. A phylogenetic analysis places Paluxysuchus newmani deep within Neosuchia as the sister taxon to the clade that includes Goniopholididae and Eusuchia.