The origin of marine crocs re-revised

Dr. Andrea Cau 2019
recently revised the affinities of the extinct marine crocs (Figs. 1,2). Here (Fig. 3), with more outgroup taxa, the affinities of the outgroups are more refined by adding taxa omitted by Cau. The in-group marine croc clade of Cau 2019 continue as is untested.

As we learned earlier
choosing outgroup taxa is not as scientific as letting a wide gamut phylogenetic analysis, like the large reptile tree (LRT, 1549 taxa, subset Fig. 3), choose outgroup taxa for you. 

Strangely,
the proximal outgroup taxon for marine crocs recovered by Dr. Cau (Fig. 2) was tiny Fruitachampsa (Figs. 3, 4), a small, gracile Late Jurassic biped sprinter that nests with the small, gracile, Late Triassic biped sprinter Scleromochlus (Figs. 4, 5) in LRT. Fruitachampsa would seem to have few traits in common with river and marine crocs.

Cau did not include Scleromochlus
in his cladogram (Fig. 1), nor did he include Dyoplax.

While we’re on the subject of Fruitachampsa,
it appears to have an antorbital fenestra conjoined with the jawline rather than a very deeply emarginated jawline when put into a phylogenetic context. For similar reasons, the central fenestra in the palate is likely the conjoined choanae of primitive crocodylomorphs like Scleromochlus, rather than the posteriorly shifted choanae of derived eucrocs.

Despite appearances
Dyoplax (Fig. 7) is not considered a crocodylomorph, let alone an outgroup to marine crocs, as we learned earlier here.

In the LRT
(subset Fig. 3) Dyopolax is the outgroup taxon to marine crocs while Dibrothosuchus (Fig. 8) is basal to this clade + river crocs.  

Once again,
a wide gamut phylogenetic analysis is key to recovering interrelationships.

References
Cau A 2019. A revision of the diagnosis and affinities of the metriorhynchoids (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) from the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation (Jurassic of Italy) using specimen-level analyses. PeerJ, DOI 10.7717/peerj.7364
Clark JM 2011. A new shartegosuchid crocodyliform from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of western Colorado. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 163, S152–S172. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00719.x