Osteological review of Araripesuchus gomesii and Simosuchus clarki (Notosuchia, Mesoeucrocodylia)

• Grant number: 25/03208-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Paleozoology
• Principal Investigator: Fabiana Rodrigues Costa Nunes
• Grantee: Marcos Vinicius de Sousa Lopes Silva
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/03099-7 - Tridimensional modeling and locomotor biomechanics in extinct vertebrates, AP.PNGP.PI

Abstract

Although crocodilians have a conservative morphology, it is known that the lineage has undergone postural changes that led to a transition from a more upright stance to a more sprawled posture, with the forelimbs and hindlimbs becoming more flexed and spread apart in relation to the position of the body. By using two specimens of Araripesuchus gomesii and Simosuchus clarki as models for comparison with extant crocodilians by three-dimensionally reconstructing them in a virtual environment, it is necessary to survey and review the osteological characteristics that define the bone elements of these two species of notosuchians, thus ensuring the revision and correction of the generated 3D mesh to be properly undertaken. This study therefore enables the subsequent stages of this proposal to be carried out satisfactorily. (AU)