They were surpassed only by large theropods, however, these are very rare in the Adamantina Formation and represented by isolated and fragmentary teeth mostly attributed to abelisaurids and carcharodontosaurids, and isolated megaraptorid and unenlagiine vertebrae. The sphagesaurid material recovered in the abdominal cavity of Aplestosuchus was considered more likely derived from predation, not scavenging, given its size relation to the prey, as sphagesaurids were usually much smaller than about one fourth of derived baurusuchids. Aplestosuchus is distinguished form all other known Crocodyliformes by a unique combination of trait, including four autapomorphies. It possesses an autapomorphic nasal bone with dorsal midline crest, and an autapomorphic frontal longitudinal ridge that reaches the midline contact between the prefrontals. Its medial supratemporal rim is crest-shaped, and the ridge along the ectopterygoid-jugal suture is notched at its caudal portion. A lateral depression is present on the quadrate bone. The palatine bar is autapomorphically crested on its ventral surface, and cylindrical in its dorsal portion. The choanal septum is also ridged on the ventral surface. An autapomorphic single parachoanal fossa rostrolateral to the parachoanal fenestrae is present at the base of the pterygoid wing. In the lower jaw of Aplestosuchus, the outer sculpture of the mandible is limited to the dentary, and the occipital surface of the mandibular symphysis lack a peg. Additionally, the ridged border of the angular is not covering the rostral edge of the mandibular fenestra, and a row of foramina is present between the mandibular fenestra and the ectopterygoid-jugal suture. Some of the non-autapomorphic traits of A. sordidus listed above, such as the quadrate depression, medial approximation of the prefrontals, and ridge on the ectopterygoid-jugal articulation, confirm its placement within Baurusuchidae. Phylogeny The phylogenetic position of Aplestosuchus within Baurusuchidae was investigated in its original description, Godoy et al. (2014). Aplestosuchus, along with the recently described baurusuchids Campinasuchus and Gondwanasuchus, were scored into the taxon-character matrix of Montefeltro et al. (2011), which is focused solely on Baurusuchidae, with the addition of eight new characters. The resultant matrix includes 10 baurusuchid species as well as three outgroup taxa, scored based on 74 characters. Below is a cladogram from Godoy et al. (2014) showing the placement of Aplestosuchus based on their analysis. References Terrestrial crocodylomorphs Late Cretaceous crocodylomorphs of South America Cretaceous Brazil Fossils of Brazil Adamantina Formation Fossil taxa described in 2014 Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera