Abstract: Simultaneously analysing morphological, molecular and stratigraphic data suggests a potential resolution to a major remaining inconsistency in crocodylian evolution. The ancient, long-snouted thoracosaurs have always been placed near the Indian gharial Gavialis, but their antiquity (ca 72 Ma) is highly incongruous with genomic evidence for the young age of the Gavialis lineage (ca 40 Ma). We reconcile this contradiction with an updated morphological dataset and novel analysis, and demonstrate that thoracosaurs are an ancient iteration of long-s...
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