Machimosauridae

Machimosauridae is a diverse group of teleosauroids, phylogenetically defined in the PhyloCode by Mark T. Young and colleagues as "the largest clade within Teleosauroidea containing Machimosaurus hugii, but not Teleosaurus cadomensis." The less inclusive subfamily Machimosaurinae is defined in the PhyloCode as "the largest clade within Teleosauroidea containing Machimosaurus hugii, but not Deslongchampsina larteti, Macrospondylus bollensis, and Charitomenosuchus leedsi". The tribe Machimosaurini contains the largest, most robust, and latest living machimosaurids and is defined in the PhyloCode as "the largest clade within Teleosauroidea containing Machimosaurus hugii, but not Neosteneosaurus edwardsi". The members of the Machimosauridae share several unique characters among teleosauroids, which are: • dorsally oriented external nares • the premaxillary anterior and anterolateral margins are not sub-vertical and do not extend ventrally • the premaxilla-maxilla suture is sub-rectangular and slightly interdigitating (most noticeably near the midline) • no anterolateral expansion of the supratemporal fenestrae • the postorbital is excluded from the orbit posteroventral margin • a mostly horizontal pterygoid with a distinct posterolateral angle • the cultriform process of the basisphenoid is exposed and bifurcates the pterygoids The phylogenetic relationships of the Machimosauridae were analyzed in a comprehensive analysis of teleosauroid relationships. The results of the analysis are shown below: {{Clade|{{clade == Evolution ==

Machimosaurids grew in body size and diversified feeding strategies throughout their evolutionary history. Primitive machimosaurids, such as Macrospondylus and Charitomenosuchus, were longirostrine (long-snouted) generalists with body lengths less than long. Machimosaurines originated in the Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic and simultaneously underwent a decrease in snout length but an increase in body size with Neosteneosaurus reaching up to long. Machimosaurins were the largest teleosauroids, with body lengths up to (Machimosaurus rex), and were durophagous hunters, meaning they fed on hard prey. ==References==