Borealosuchus

 ( Neosuchia ) 

Borealosuchus (meaning "northern crocodile") is an extinct genus of that lived from the Late Cretaceous to the Eocene in North America. It was named by Christopher Brochu in 1997 for several species that had been assigned to Leidyosuchus. The species assigned to it are: B. sternbergii, the type species, from the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming; B. acutidentatus, from the Paleocene of Saskatchewan; B. formidabilis, from the Paleocene of North Dakota; B. griffithi, from the Paleocene of Alberta; and B. wilsoni, from the Eocene of Wyoming. B. formidabilis is particularly well-known, represented by the remains of many individuals from the Wannagan Creek site in North Dakota. An indeterminate species is known from the Late Cretaceous Demopolis Chalk in Alabama.

Borealosuchus was a mid-sized crocodyliform, with B. wilsoni measuring approximately long.

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Taxonomy Six species of Borealosuchus are currently recognized. In order of their naming, they are B. sternbergii, B. acutidentatus, B. wilsoni, B. formidabilis, B. griffithi, and B. threeensis.[1] Fossilworks Four of these species ( B. sternbergi, B. acutidentatus, B. wilsoni, and B. formidabilis) were originally named as species of Leidyosuchus. A sixth species of Borealosuchus, B. threeensis, was named in 2012. Fossils of this species were found in the Inversand Company Marl Pit of Gloucester County, New Jersey. The specific name is a reference to Exit 3 of the New Jersey Turnpike, which is the closest highway exit to the type locality. The authors of the paper describing B. threeensis noted that the name is "in reference to a question every New Jersey resident encounters when traveling: 'Oh, you're from New Jersey? Which exit?'".

• † B. sternbergii
• Moved from Leidyosuchus sternbergii
• † B. acutidentatus
• Moved from L. acutidentatus
• † B. formidabilis
• Moved from L. formidabilis
• † B. griffithi
• † B. threeensis
• † B. wilsoni
• Moved from L. wilsoni

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Classification

Although some earlier phylogenetic studies proposed Borealosuchus to be a member of Crocodylia, recent studies are now recovering Borealosuchus as a basal not belonging to Crocodylia, as shown in the cladogram below:

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External links

• Borealosuchus in the Paleobiology Database

Categories: Neosuchia, Paleocene Crocodylomorphs, Eocene Crocodylomorphs, Late Cretaceous Crocodylomorphs Of North America, Late Cretaceous Reptiles Of North America, Hell Creek Fauna, Paleocene Reptiles Of North America, Eocene Reptiles Of North America, Fossil Taxa Described In 1997, Prehistoric Pseudosuchian Genera, Paleontology In Alberta

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