Carnufex is anchored by partial, immature holotype NCSM 21558 from the Carnian Pekin Formation of North Carolina; that one individual does not define the genus-wide first or last appearance.
claim:taxon:carnufexCarnufex
A Carnian crocodylomorph represented here by partial, skeletally immature holotype NCSM 21558 and referred humerus NCSM 21623; its basal placement and predator-guild role are results of the cited analyses, not direct ancestry or behaviour.
Represented range231–231 Ma
Content packagecrocodylomorphs-birds
PBDBtxn:321716
Evidence boundary
Automated checks cover structure, identifiers, translations and links only; maintainer and external expert review are not complete.
Claim ledger
Zanno et al. named Carnufex carolinensis from holotype NCSM 21558 and recovered it at the base of Crocodylomorpha in an unresolved polytomy in their 79-taxon, 413-character analysis; this is a sampled topology, not direct ancestry.
claim:taxon:carnufex:taxonomyThe Carnufex type and referred material are recorded from the approximately 231 Ma Pekin Formation in Chatham County, North Carolina; this single formation sample does not establish a genus-wide distribution or absence elsewhere.
claim:taxon:carnufex:biogeographyNCSM 21558 preserves partial cranial and postcranial material, including a reconstructed slender, ornamented skull longer than 50 cm and elongate, serrated, slightly recurved premaxillary teeth; these observations are limited to the immature holotype.
claim:taxon:carnufex:morphologyThe study interprets Carnufex as an approximately 3 m terrestrial faunivore and top-tier predator in the sampled Pekin Formation assemblage using serrated teeth, reconstructed skull length and an immature femur-length estimate of 353–440 mm; feeding, locomotion and guild are not direct behavioural observations.
claim:taxon:carnufex:ecologyKnown limits
- A missing branch or fossil occurrence does not imply biological absence. Internal nodes are not calibrated divergence estimates.
References
- Early crocodylomorph increases top tier predator diversity during rise of dinosaursZanno, L.E.; Drymala, S.; Nesbitt, S.J.; Schneider, V.P. · 2015 · DOI 10.1038/srep09276
- Open Tree of Life web servicesOpenTreeOfLife Project
- The Paleobiology Database application programming interfacePeters, S.E.; McClennen, M. · 2016 · DOI 10.1017/pab.2015.39
- Denormalized occurrence and taxon tables of the Paleobiology DatabaseThe Paleobiology Database Community; Kocsis, Á.T. · 2026 · DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21620933