Eosuchus
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Eosuchus Temporal range: Late Paleocene - Early Eocene |
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| Holotype E. lerichei skull | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Crocodilia |
| Superfamily: | Gavialoidea |
| Genus: |
†Eosuchus Dollo, 1907 |
| Species | |
Eosuchus (Dawn Crocodile) is an extinct genus of gavialoid crocodilian. It is among the most basal of all gavialoids, lying crownward of all other known members of the superfamily, including earlier members such as Thoracosaurus and Eothoracosaurus. Fossils have been found from France as well as eastern North America in Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey. The strata from which specimens have been found date back to the late Paleocene and early Eocene epochs.
The name Eosuchus was first used in 1907 to describe a single specimen found from northern France near the Belgian border, assigned to the type species E. lerichei. A second species, E. minor, was named in 2006 from material found from the United States, having been referred in the past to several different genera of crocodilians. E. minor differs from E. lerichei on the basis of a noticeably wider nasal and prefrontals positioned anteriorly further up the skull than the lacrimals
A new species of Gavialis, G. minor, was named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1870 on the basis of the holotype specimen YPM 282, consisting of cranial fragments and isolated vertebrae found from the Manasquan Formation in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The locality dates back to the Ypresian stage of the early Eocene. The species name refers to the relatively small estimated size of the animal, estimated at no more than 2 meters, when compared to other gavialoids such as the modern gharial, which can grow up to 5 meters in length.
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