Sebecidae

{{Short description|Extinct family of reptiles}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Sebecids | fossil_range = Early Paleocene - Late Miocene/Early Pliocene, <br/>{{fossilrange|66|4.5}}{{period fossil range|Cenozoic|66.0|4.5}} | image = Sebecus icaeorhinus.JPG | image_upright = 1.15 | image_caption = Skull of ''Sebecus icaeorhinus'' | taxon = Sebecidae | authority = Simpson, 1937 | subdivision_ranks = Subgroups | subdivision = *{{extinct}}''Ayllusuchus'' *{{extinct}}''Barinasuchus'' *{{extinct}}''Bretesuchus'' *{{extinct}}''Dentaneosuchus''<ref name="Martin2023">{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=J. E. |last2=Pochat-Cottilloux |first2=Y. |last3=Laurent |first3=Y. |last4=Perrier |first4=V. |last5=Robert |first5=E. |last6=Antoine |first6=P.-O. |date=2023 |title=Anatomy and phylogeny of an exceptionally large sebecid (Crocodylomorpha) from the middle Eocene of southern France |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |doi=10.1080/02724634.2023.2193828 |s2cid=258361595 |volume=42 |issue=4 |article-number=e2193828}}</ref> *{{extinct}}''Eremosuchus''? *{{extinct}}''Ilchunaia''? *{{extinct}}''Langstonia'' *{{extinct}}''Lorosuchus'' *{{extinct}}''Sahitisuchus'' *{{extinct}}''Sebecus'' *{{extinct}}''Zulmasuchus'' | synonyms = *Bretesuchidae <small>Gasparini, Fernandez & Powell, 1993</small> }}

'''Sebecidae''' is an extinct family of prehistoric terrestrial sebecosuchian crocodylomorphs, known from the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic of Europe, South America and the Caribbean. They were the latest surviving group of non-crocodilian crocodylomorphs. Sebecids are colloquially known as '''land crocodiles'''.

The oldest known member once attributed to the group is ''Ogresuchus furatus'' known from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Tremp Formation (Spain).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sellés |first1=A. G. |last2=Blanco |first2=A. |last3=Vila |first3=B. |last4=Marmi |first4=J. |last5=López-Soriano |first5=F. J. |last6=Llácer |first6=S. |last7=Frigola |first7=J. |last8=Canals |first8=M. |last9=Galobart |first9=À. |date=2020 |title=A small Cretaceous crocodyliform in a dinosaur nesting ground and the origin of sebecids |journal=Scientific Reports |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-71975-y |doi-access=free |pmid=32943663 |pmc=7499430 |bibcode=2020NatSR..1015293S |volume=10 |issue=1 |article-number=15293}}</ref> However, a 2026 study suggested that this taxon more likely represents an atoposaurid.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Szegszárdi |first1=M. |last2=Ősi |first2=A. |last3=Rabi |first3=M. |year=2026 |title=Cretaceous crocodyliform reconciles conflicting evidence on the Mesozoic paleogeography of Europe during the Gondwana-Laurasia split |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=16 |article-number=2842 |doi=10.1038/s41598-025-28504-6 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Other records of the group are known from the Eocene of Europe.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Jeremy E. |last2=Pochat-Cottilloux |first2=Yohan |last3=Laurent |first3=Yves |last4=Perrier |first4=Vincent |last5=Robert |first5=Emmanuel |last6=Antoine |first6=Pierre-Olivier |date=2022-10-28 |title=Anatomy and phylogeny of an exceptionally large sebecid (Crocodylomorpha) from the middle Eocene of southern France |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |issn=0272-4634 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2023.2193828 |bibcode=2022JVPal..42E3828M |volume=42 |issue=4 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2023.2193828|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Sebecids were diverse, abundant and broadly distributed in South America (mostly in Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia) during the Cenozoic, from the Paleocene until the Middle Miocene.<ref name="Lorosuchus" /> The youngest known sebecids identified as cf. ''Sebecus'' sp. are reported from the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene strata of the Dominican Republic.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Viñola López |first1=L. W. |last2=Velez-Juarbe |first2=J. |last3=Münch |first3=P. |last4=Almonte Milan |first4=J. N. |last5=Antoine |first5=P.-O. |last6=Marivaux |first6=L. |last7=Jimenez-Vasquez |first7=O. |last8=Bloch |first8=J. |year=2025 |title=A South American sebecid from the Miocene of Hispaniola documents the presence of apex predators in early West Indies ecosystems |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=292 |issue=2045 |at=20242891 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2024.2891 |pmid=40300627 |doi-access=free |pmc=12040450 }}</ref>

This group included many medium- and large-sized genera, from ''Sebecus'' to the giant {{convert|6|m||adj=mid|-long}} ''Barinasuchus'' from the Miocene.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Salias-Gismondi |first1=R. |last2=Antoine |first2=P. O. |last3=Baby |first3=P. |last4=Brusset |first4=S. |last5=Benammi |first5=M. |last6=Espurt |first6=N. |last7=de Franceschi |first7=D. |last8=Pujos |first8=F. |last9=Tejada |first9=J. |last10=Urbina |display-authors=8 |year=2007 |title=Middle Miocene Crocodiles From the Fitzcarrald Arch, Amazonian Peru |publisher=Instituto Geológical y Minero de España |isbn=978-84-7840-707-1 |page=4 |url=http://www.igme.es/4empsla/libro/62.pdf |access-date=May 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090704205152/http://www.igme.es/4empsla/libro/62.pdf |archive-date=July 4, 2009}}</ref> They are thought to have served as apex terrestrial predators of their ecosystems.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pochat-Cottilloux |first1=Yohan |last2=Martin |first2=Jeremy E. |last3=Faure-Brac |first3=Mathieu G. |last4=Jouve |first4=Stéphane |last5=de Muizon |first5=Christian |last6=Cubo |first6=Jorge |last7=Lécuyer |first7=Christophe |last8=Fourel |first8=François |last9=Amiot |first9=Romain |date=1 September 2023 |title=A multi-isotopic study reveals the palaeoecology of a sebecid from the Paleocene of Bolivia |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111667 |volume=625 |article-number=111667 |via=Elsevier Science Direct |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018223002857 |access-date=15 November 2024}}</ref>

==Phylogeny== Juan Leardi and colleagues in 2024 defined Sebecidae in ''PhyloCode'' as "the least inclusive clade containing ''Sebecus icaeorhinus'', ''Bretesuchus bonapartei'', ''Barinasuchus arveloi'', and ''Sahitisuchus fluminensis''".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Leardi |first1=J. M. |last2=Pol |first2=D. |last3=Montefeltro |first3=F. |last4=Marinho |first4=T. S. |last5=Ruiz |first5=J. V. |last6=Bravo |first6=G. G. |last7=Pinheiro |first7=A. E. P. |last8=Godoy |first8=P. L. |last9=Nicholl |first9=C. S. C. |last10=Lecuona |first10=A. |last11=Larsson |first11=H. C. E. |year=2024 |title=Phylogenetic nomenclature of Notosuchia (Crocodylomorpha; Crocodyliformes) |journal=Bulletin of Phylogenetic Nomenclature |doi=10.11646/bpn.1.3.2 |doi-access=free |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=44–82}}</ref> The following cladogram simplified after Diego Pol and Jaime E. Powell (2011).<ref name=Lorosuchus>{{cite journal |last1=Pol |first1=Diego |last2=Powell |first2=Jaime E. |year=2011 |title=A new sebecid mesoeucrocodylian from the Rio Loro Formation (Palaeocene) of north-western Argentina |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00714.x |doi-access=free |hdl=11336/69518 |hdl-access=free |volume=163 |pages=S7–S36}}</ref>

{{clade| style=font-size:85%;line-height:85% |label1=Sebecosuchia |1={{clade |1=''Pehuenchesuchus'' |2={{clade |1=''Cynodontosuchus'' |label2=Baurusuchidae |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=''Pabwehshi'' |2=''Stratiotosuchus'' }} |2={{clade |1=''Baurusuchus pachecoi'' |2=''Baurusuchus salgadoensis'' }} }} |3={{clade |label1=Bergisuchidae |1=''Bergisuchus'' |label2=Iberosuchidae |2=''Iberosuchus'' |label3='''Sebecidae''' |3={{clade |1=''Lorosuchus'' |2={{clade |1=''Barinasuchus'' |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=''Ayllusuchus'' |2=''Bretesuchus'' }} |2={{clade |1=Lumbrera form |2=''Langstonia'' |3=''Sebecus'' |4=''Zulmasuchus'' }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}

==References== {{Reflist}} {{Portal|Paleontology}}

Category:Neogene crocodylomorphs Category:Paleogene crocodylomorphs Category:Prehistoric reptiles of South America Category:Sebecidae Category:Paleocene first appearances Category:Miocene extinctions Category:Pseudosuchian families