Sebecidae

{{Short description|Extinct family of reptiles}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| name = Sebecids

| fossil_range = Late Cretaceous - Middle Miocene,
{{fossilrange|67.6|11.8}}

| image = Sebecus icaeorhinus.JPG

| image_upright = 1.15

| image_caption = Skull of Sebecus icaeorhinus

| image2 = Ogresuchus skeletal.png

| image2_caption = Skeleton of Ogresuchus

| taxon = Sebecidae

| authority = Simpson, 1937

| subdivision_ranks = Subgroups

| subdivision = *{{extinct}}Ayllusuchus

• {{extinct}}Barinasuchus
• {{extinct}}Bretesuchus
• {{extinct}}Dentaneosuchus{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=J. E. |last2=Pochat-Cottilloux |first2=Y. |last3=Laurent |first3=Y. |last4=Perrier |first4=V. |last5=Robert |first5=E. |last6=Antoine |first6=P.-O. |date=2023 |title=Anatomy and phylogeny of an exceptionally large sebecid (Crocodylomorpha) from the middle Eocene of southern France |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |doi=10.1080/02724634.2023.2193828 |s2cid=258361595 |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=e2193828}}
• {{extinct}}Eremosuchus?
• {{extinct}}Ilchunaia?
• {{extinct}}Langstonia
• {{extinct}}Lorosuchus
• {{extinct}}Ogresuchus
• {{extinct}}Sahitisuchus
• {{extinct}}Sebecus
• {{extinct}}Zulmasuchus

| synonyms = *Bretesuchidae Gasparini, Fernandez & Powell, 1993

}}

Sebecidae is an extinct family of prehistoric terrestrial sebecosuchian crocodylomorphs, known from the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic of Europe and South America. They were the latest surviving group of non-crocodilian crocodylomorphs.

The oldest known member of the group is Ogresuchus furatus known from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Tremp Formation (Spain).{{Cite journal |last1=Sellés |first1=A. G. |last2=Blanco |first2=A. |last3=Vila |first3=B. |last4=Marmi |first4=J. |last5=López-Soriano |first5=F. J. |last6=Llácer |first6=S. |last7=Frigola |first7=J. |last8=Canals |first8=M. |last9=Galobart |first9=À. |date=2020 |title=A small Cretaceous crocodyliform in a dinosaur nesting ground and the origin of sebecids |journal=Scientific Reports |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-71975-y |doi-access=free |pmid=32943663 |pmc=7499430 |bibcode=2020NatSR..1015293S |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=Article number 15293}} Other records of the group are known from the Eocene of Europe.{{Cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Jeremy E. |last2=Pochat-Cottilloux |first2=Yohan |last3=Laurent |first3=Yves |last4=Perrier |first4=Vincent |last5=Robert |first5=Emmanuel |last6=Antoine |first6=Pierre-Olivier |date=2022-10-28 |title=Anatomy and phylogeny of an exceptionally large sebecid (Crocodylomorpha) from the middle Eocene of southern France |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |issn=0272-4634 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2023.2193828 |bibcode=2022JVPal..42E3828M |volume=42 |issue=4 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2023.2193828}} Sebecids were diverse, abundant and broadly distributed in South America (mostly in Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia) during the Cenozoic, from the Paleocene until the Middle Miocene; although it has been suggested that at least some forms could have survived until the Miocene-Pliocene boundary in Brazil.Liccardo, Antonio, and Luiz Carlos Weinschütz. "[http://rbg.sbgeo.org.br/index.php/rbg/article/view/14971/1216 Registro inédito de fósseis de vertebrados na Bacia Sedimentar de Curitiba (PR)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602035411/http://rbg.sbgeo.org.br/index.php/rbg/article/view/14971/1216 |date=2015-06-02}}." Revista Brasileira de Geociências 40.3 (2010): 330-338.

This group included many medium- and large-sized genera, from Sebecus to the giant {{convert|6|m||adj=mid|-long}} Barinasuchus from the Miocene.{{cite book |last1=Salias-Gismondi |first1=R. |last2=Antoine |first2=P. O. |last3=Baby |first3=P. |last4=Brusset |first4=S. |last5=Benammi |first5=M. |last6=Espurt |first6=N. |last7=de Franceschi |first7=D. |last8=Pujos |first8=F. |last9=Tejada |first9=J. |last10=Urbina |display-authors=8 |year=2007 |title=Middle Miocene Crocodiles From the Fitzcarrald Arch, Amazonian Peru |publisher=Instituto Geológical y Minero de España |isbn=978-84-7840-707-1 |page=4 |url=http://www.igme.es/4empsla/libro/62.pdf |access-date=May 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090704205152/http://www.igme.es/4empsla/libro/62.pdf |archivedate=July 4, 2009}} They are thought to have served as apex terrestrial predators of their ecosystems.{{Cite journal |last=Pochat-Cottilloux |first=Yohan |last2=Martin |first2=Jeremy E. |last3=Faure-Brac |first3=Mathieu G. |last4=Jouve |first4=Stéphane |last5=de Muizon |first5=Christian |last6=Cubo |first6=Jorge |last7=Lécuyer |first7=Christophe |last8=Fourel |first8=François |last9=Amiot |first9=Romain |date=1 September 2023 |title=A multi-isotopic study reveals the palaeoecology of a sebecid from the Paleocene of Bolivia |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111667 |volume=625 |pages=111667 |via=Elsevier Science Direct |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018223002857 |access-date=15 November 2024}}