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Machaeroprosopus

Machaeroprosopus is an extinct genus of mystriosuchin leptosuchomorph phytosaur from the Late Triassic of the southwestern United States. M. validus, once thought to be the type species of Machaeroprosopus, was named in 1916 on the basis of three complete skulls from Chinle Formation, Arizona. The skulls have been lost since the 1950s, and a line drawing in the original 1916 description is the only visual record of the specimen. Another species, M. andersoni, was named in 1922 from New Mexico, and the species M. adamanensis, M. gregorii, M. lithodendrorum, M. tenuis, and M. zunii were named in 1930. Most species have been reassigned to the genera Smilosuchus, Rutiodon, or Phytosaurus. Until recently, M. validus was considered to be the only species that has not been reassigned. Thus, Machaeroprosopus was considered to be a nomen dubium or "doubtful name" because of the lack of diagnostic specimens that can support its distinction from other phytosaur genera. However, a taxonomic revision of Machaeroprosopus, conducted by Parker et al. in 2013, revealed that UW 3807, the holotype of M. validus, is not the holotype of Machaeroprosopus, while the species Machaeroprosopus buceros, Machaeroprosopus being a replacement name, with a fixed type species, for Metarhinus, is the combinatio nova of the type species of the genu: Belodon buceros. Therefore, the name Pseudopalatus must be considered a junior synonym of Machaeroprosopus, and all species of the former must be reassigned to the latter. This revised taxonomy was already accepted in several studies, including Stocker and Butler (2013). Stocker and Butler (2013) also treated M. andersoni as a valid species, and not a junior synonym of Machaeroprosopus buceros as was previously suggested by Long and Murry (1995).

Species
M. andersoni M. andersoni was first described and named by Maurice G. Mehl in 1922, on the basis of the holotype FMNH UC 396, partial skull. Later, the skull was occasionally referred to Phytosaurus buceros. Jaekel (1910) erected a new genus for the species, creating Metarhinus buceros, however this generic name was preoccupied by Metarhinus Osborn, 1908, a brontotheriid mammal. Mehl (1915) referred this species to Lophoprosopus, as Lophoprosopus buceros, but as the type species of this genus is considered to be synonymous with Nicrosaurus kapffi, Mehl (1916) erected a new genus for B. buceros, creating Machaeroprosopus buceros, but also explicitly indicated M. validus as the type. Subsequent studies accordingly considered M. validus to be the type species of Machaeroprosopus. Later, the skull was referred to as Rutiodon buceros, Machaeroprosopus buceros or Pseudopalatus buceros. Long and Murry (1995) erected a new genus for the species, not knowing that M. validus was not in fact the type species of Machaeroprosopus, creating Arribasuchus buceros. and Parker and Irmis (2006), referred the species back to Pseudopalatus buceros, and considered Arribasuchus to be a junior synonym of Pseudopalatus. A taxonomic revision of Machaeroprosopus, conducted by Parker et al. in 2013, revealed that Machaeroprosopus buceros is the combinatio nova of the type species of the genus because Article 67-8 ICZN rules that with replacement names the original type species (i.c. Cope's Beladon buceros) is maintained. Therefore, the name Pseudopalatus was considered a junior synonym of Machaeroprosopus, and all species of the former were reassigned to the later, including P. buceros. A phylogenetic analysis of mystriosuchin phytosaurs performed by Hungerbühler et al. (2013) found the species to be a derived Machaeroprosopus species, most closely related to the type species of Redondasaurus, "R." gregorii. This clade in addition to Machaeroprosopus sp. (TTU-P10074) was recovered as the sister taxon of the clade formed by M. pristinus and M. buceros. M. jablonskiae, M. mccauleyi and "Redondasaurus" bermani were found to be basal species of Machaeroprosopus. The specimen was originally informally designated as Pseudopalatus "bilingsensis" by Ballew (1986). Long and Murry (1995) also considered M. mccauleyi to be a species of their Arribasuchus, probably synonymous with A. buceros, Until recently, M. validus was considered to be the only species of Machaeroprosopus that has not been reassigned. Thus, Machaeroprosopus was considered to be a nomen dubium or "doubtful name" because of the lack of diagnostic specimens that can support its distinction from other phytosaur genera. However, a taxonomic revision of Machaeroprosopus, conducted by Parker et al. (in press), revealed that UW 3807 is not the holotype of Machaeroprosopus, while the species Machaeroprosopus buceros is in fact the correct new combination for the type species of the genus. ==References==
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