Bottosaurus, AGASSIZ, 1849

Cossette, Adam P., 2021, A new species of Bottosaurus (Alligatoroidea: Caimaninae) from the Black Peaks Formation (Palaeocene) of Texas indicates an early radiation of North American caimanines, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 191 : -

BOTTOSAURUS AGASSIZ, 1849

Type species: Bottosaurus harlani .

Diagnosis: Species of Bottosaurus are diagnosed by shared skull and mandibular character states. Lower jaws are nearly circular in cross-section. Teeth are tribodont, with apical striations of the enamel and mesiodistally oriented carinae. Anterior teeth are nearly circular in cross-section and have relatively low apices; mid-jaw and posterior teeth of the dentary are labiolingually compressed and bear apices that become progressively blunter along the posterior tooth row ( Fig. 1). Jugals preserve a large jugal foramen ( Fig. 2). A U-shaped depression is present on the frontal at the point of the greatest mediolateral constriction between the orbits ( Fig. 3). The U-shaped depression of Bottosaurus differs from the U-shaped depression of caimanines, such as Melanosuchus or Caiman , in which the structure is anterior to the point of greatest mediolateral constriction between the orbits.