Brillanceausuchus is an extinct genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of atoposaurid

Atoposauridae

Atoposauridae is a family of crocodile-like archosaurs. Members of the family have been found from France, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Germany, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Cameroon, and Thailand.-Phylogeny:...

 crocodylomorph

Crocodylomorpha

The Crocodylomorpha are an important group of archosaurs that include the crocodilians and their extinct relatives.During Mesozoic and early Tertiary times the Crocodylomorpha were far more diverse than they are now. Triassic forms were small, lightly built, active terrestrial animals. These were...

. Fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

s have been found in Early Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

–age rocks of Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

. The genus is notable for the position of the secondary choana

Choana

Choana is the posterior nasal aperture.The choanae are separated by the vomer.- Boundaries :It is the opening between the nasal cavity and the nasopharynx....

 within its palate

Palate

The palate is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but, in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly separate. The palate is divided into two parts, the anterior...

. Parts of the pterygoid

Pterygoid

Pterygoid can refer to:* Pterygoid processes of the sphenoid bone** The Lateral pterygoid plate by it* a muscle such as Lateral pterygoid muscle or Medial pterygoid muscle* a branch of the Mandibular nerve...

 bones make up the rostral margin of the choana and thus separate it from the palatines

Palatine bone

The palatine bone is a bone in many species of the animal kingdom, commonly termed the palatum .-Human anatomy:...

, a feature also seen in the more advanced neosuchia

Neosuchia

Neosuchia is an unranked clade within Mesoeucrocodylia that includes all modern extant crocodilians and their closest fossil relatives. It is defined as the most inclusive clade containing all crocodylomorphs more closely related to Crocodylus niloticus than to Notosuchus terrestris...

n suborder Eusuchia

Eusuchia

Eusuchia is a clade of crocodylomorphs that first appears in the Early Cretaceous with Hylaeochampsa. All living crocodilian species are eusuchians, as are many extinct forms.-Description:...

. This characteristic was once thought to be characteristic of Eusuchia, but its presence in Brillanceausuchus suggests that the trait is homoplasic

Convergent evolution

Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, both birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are...

, thus making the evolution of the position of the choana within crocodilians more complex than previously thought.