In Depth Caryonosuchus is a genus of sphagesaurid notosuchian crocodylomorph that lived in South America during the latter stages of the Cretaceous. So far Caryonosuchus is only known from partial remains, but if relative genera are anything to go by, Caryonosuchus may well have been herbivorous. Further Reading - A new crocodylomorph (Sphagesauridae, Notosuchia) with … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – A New Horned Crocodile from the Plio-Pleistocene Hominid Sites at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. – PLoS One 5(2). – C. A. Brochu, J. Njau, R. J. Blumenschine & L. D. Densmore – 2010. – A new cranium of Crocodylus anthropophagus from Olduvai Gorge, northern Tanzania. – Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e … Read more
In Depth Although giant crocodiles like Sarcosuchus usually steal the limelight, the little ones such as Bernissartia can prove just as interesting. Aside from being one of the smallest crocodiles in the fossil record, Bernissartia had two distinct types of teeth. The front teeth are sharp and pointed, and are thought to have been for … Read more
In Depth With a temporal range that spans from the late Cretaceous to the mid Miocene, Diplocynodon is yet further proof of how perfect the crocodile form is for survival. Represented by several species, the Diplocynodon genus has one of the longest known temporal ranges for a specific crocodile genus, and seems to have been … Read more
In Depth Pissarrachampsa is a genus of terrestrial crocodile that lived in Brazil during the late Cretaceous. The precise point of time of the Cretaceous is still debated as some point between the Turonian and the Maastrichtian. All that is known for certain is that the holotype fossils of Pissarrachampsa came from the Vale do … Read more
In Depth The crocodiles seem to have been quite resilient to the effects of the KT extinction sixty-five million years ago that marked the death of the dinosaurs, as Brachychampsa is yet another genus of crocodylian that is known to have existed for several million years before and after this extinction event. Dyrosaurus is another … Read more
In Depth Pepesuchus is a genus of metasuchian that lived in what is now Brazil during the late Cretaceous. Pepesuchus is noted for having ziphodont teeth that laterally compressed to be blade like with serrated edges. This almost certainly means that Pepesuchus was a carnivore that was well adapted to slicing through the flesh of … Read more
In Depth The naming of the Borealosuchus genus was born out of a revision of the genus Leidysuchus which has a reputation as something of a ‘wastebasket taxon’. So far four former species of Leidysuchus have been renamed as species of Borealosuchus, though two further species have now also been named. Borealosuchus was a mid-sized … Read more
In Depth Culebrasuchus is a genus of caiman crocodile that lived in Central America during the early Miocene. The presence of Culebrasuchus in Panama has also led to speculation that North and South America may have been joined much earlier than previous thought, albeit only temporally, though other kinds of caiman are known from slightly … Read more
In Depth Bayomesasuchus is a genus of peirosaurid crocodile that lived in South America during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - A new peirosaurid (Crocodyliformes, Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. - Ameghiniana 53(1):14-25. - F. Barrios, A. Paulina-Carabajal & P. Bona - 2015.