Prestosuchus and Huenesuchus + broad-snouted crocodiles from Egypt + squamate coloration + more free pdfs

[Ben Creisler]

Ben Creisler

bcre...@gmail.com

Some recent reptile-related papers:

Free pdf:

Skye McDavid (2025)
Huenesuchus is an objective synonym of Prestosuchus while ‘class-group names’ do not exist in and are not regulated by the ICZN: a response to Kischlat
Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 27(4): e20240425
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4072/rbp.2024.4.0425
https://sbpbrasil.org/publications/index.php/rbp/article/view/425

Free pdf:
https://sbpbrasil.org/publications/index.php/rbp/article/view/425/248



A recent revision by Kischlat of the genus Prestosuchus (generally attributed to Huene) determined that it was an unavailable nomen nudum and proposed the new genus Huenesuchus to contain the species until then known as Prestosuchus chiniquensis, based on the assumption that no author made the name available after Huene. In fact, the name was made available by Kuhn. Huenesuchus and Huenesuchidae are objective junior synonyms of Prestosuchus and Prestosuchidae, respectively. Kischlat also introduced the new name Huenesuchia to replace Prestosuchia based on the incorrect assumption that unranked clades named after genera must be substituted if their eponyms are found to be nomina nuda, and the names Holosuchia and Loricatosuchia as substitutes for Suchia and Loricata respectively, based on an incorrect application of the Principle of Homonymy. The Principle of Homonymy, which applies to family-group, genus-group, and species-group names, does not apply to unranked clades or other Linnaean ranks, so Suchia and Loricata do not need to be substituted. Additionally, Kischlat characterized Holosuchia, Loricatosuchia, and Huenesuchia as ‘class-group names,’ a grouping that does not exist in the ICZN.

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Free pdf:

Eman S. El-Degwi, Mohamed K. AbdelGawad, Shaimaa E. Radwaan, Rania E. Sliem, Afifi Sileem & Salwa Ibrahim Abd Elhady (2025)
Evolutionary trend of the broad-snouted crocodile from the Eocene, Early Miocene and recent ones from Egypt
Scientific Reports 15:  9159
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-91167-w
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-91167-w


Skulls are a critical part of the crocodile through which we can distinguish between the different genera and species. Most of the crocodiles which previously studied from the Eocene–Oligocene to the Miocene times in Egypt were concerned with the identification of the genus and sometimes on the species without a detailed focusing on the evolution, comparing between them and trying to determine the ancestor or the closest species of them to the living crocodile in Egypt. The only known living species of Crocodylus in Egypt is Crocodylus niloticus which inhabits Lake Nasser in Aswan, southern of Egypt. From the Cenozoic era, broad snouted crocodiles diversity had been reported in Egypt. About 35 million years ago, through the Eocene epoch, the crocodilian fossils from Fayum provided evidence of the diversity of crocodile species including Crocodylus articeps and Crocodylus megarhinus. In addition to that, throughout the Early Miocene epoch, from about 18 million years ago, in Wadi Moghra Egypt crocodilian fossils demonstrate another diversity, extended to the first appearance of Rimasuchus lloydi which placed inside the Osteolaeminae later. By various measurements and carefully morphological examination of the different species recorded from Egypt, it was found that there are high levels of variation in morphology of the skulls including their dimensions, and the sutures shapes especially between premaxilla and maxilla ventrally and also between maxilla and palatine, as well as the extension of the maxillary ramus of the ectopterygoid. Using cluster analysis, it is proven that Eocene Crocodylus is the ancestor to all known broad snouted species recorded from Egypt since the Eocene time. The closest species to the Eocene specimen is the living Crocodylus niloticus. That in fact make that most of the broad snouted crocodiles in Egypt are endemic.

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Free pdf:

Jonathan Goldenberg, Karen Bisschop, Joshua W. Lambert, Michaël P. J. Nicolaï, Rampal S. Etienne, Liliana D’Alba & Matthew D. Shawkey (2025)
Habitat openness and squamate color evolution over deep time
Nature Communications 16: 2625
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57547-6
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-57547-6


While the ecological roles of colored integument have been extensively studied, what regulates global patterns of color variation remains poorly understood. Here, using a global dataset of 1249 squamates, we evaluate whether and how six key eco-environmental variables and their interactions shaped the evolutionary history of their coloration. We show that only habitat openness consistently associates with brightness evolution, with brighter integuments favored in open habitats, possibly for enhanced heat reflection. Furthermore, brightness evolution rates likely track δ18O (a temperature proxy) changes and increase during global aridification phases, such as those in the Miocene and Pliocene. This trend may be due to the establishment of an arid climate that promoted habitat openness shifts, ultimately inducing adaption to new niches. Our findings suggest that a single environmental variable is associated with color variation in the largest extant tetrapod order.

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Free pdf:

Heather F. Smith & Jeffrey T. Laitman (2025)
Paleoherpetology and The Anatomical Record
The Anatomical Record (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25657
https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.25657

Free pdf:
https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ar.25657


The field of paleontology has long been dominated by charismatic species, such as ever-imposing dinosaurs and intriguingly anthropomorphic primates. However, alongside each dinosaur and primate lived a variety of other fossil species, often smaller reptiles, which typically receive dramatically less public and scientific attention. Nevertheless, paleoherpetology, the study of fossil reptiles (typically used to refer to non-dinosaurian fauna), provides an important framework for understanding the broader context of past ecosystems. Over the past several years, paleoherpetological studies have been the subject of a considerable number of articles in The Anatomical Record (AR).

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