Chimaerasuchus paradoxus

Chimaerasuchus is an extinct genus of Chinese crocodyliform from the Early Cretaceous Wulong Formation. Chimaerasuchus was originally discovered in the 1960s but not identified as a crocodyliform until 1995, instead thought to possibly be a multituberculate mammal. The four teeth in the very tip of its short snout gave it a "bucktoothed" appearance. Due its multicusped teeth and marked heterodonty, it is believed to have been an herbivore: an adaptation which evolved numerous times across Mesozoic crocodyliforms.

Chimaerasuchus paradoxus

Jonathan Chen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ChimaerasuchusPBDB
Diet
herbivore, carnivorePBDB, for Chimaerasuchus
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mesoeucrocodylia

Time the record covers

At most 21 million years on record.

The one occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 121.4 Mya and 100.5 Mya, which is a dating window rather than a span.

Early Cretaceous — about 1 of 1 occurrenceEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 0 of 1 occurrence122–121 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences121–120 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences120–120 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences120–119 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences119–118 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences118–118 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences118–117 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences117–116 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences116–115 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences115–115 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences115–114 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences114–113 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences113–112 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences112–112 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences112–111 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences111–110 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences110–109 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences109–109 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences109–108 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences108–107 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences107–107 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences107–106 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences106–105 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences105–104 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences104–104 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences104–103 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences103–102 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences102–101 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences101–101 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences101–100 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences121.9 Mya100 Mya

1 occurrence of Chimaerasuchus paradoxus on record, most of them in the Early Cretaceous. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

1 formation

Wulong — 30.72°N, 111.28°E

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The named rock units Chimaerasuchus paradoxus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Chimaerasuchus paradoxus and its relatives

Early Cretaceous

Where Chimaerasuchus paradoxus and its relatives were recorded in the Early Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

No other named taxon is catalogued from that site.

The Paleobiology Database records 1 site for Chimaerasuchus paradoxus, and this reads all of them.

Entered from

1 reference

Each of the 1 occurrence read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to doi.org. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Chimaerasuchus paradoxus

Credit
Jonathan Chen
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Chimaerasuchus paradoxus · ivpp:v:8274

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itChimaerasuchus through timeFormations of the Early CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Wu et al. 1995