Eosuchus Dollo, 1907

Delfino, Massimo, Piras, Paolo & Smith, Thierry, 2005, Anatomy and phylogeny of the gavialoid crocodylian Eosuchus lerichei from the Paleocene of Europe, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 50 (3), pp. 565-580 : 567

Genus Eosuchus Dollo, 1907

Type species: Eosuchus lerichei Dollo, 1907 .

Species assigned.— Eosuchus lerichei Dollo, 1907 and Eosuchus minor ( Marsh, 1870) .

Definition.—A stem−based group name including the type species, E. lerichei Dollo, 1907 , plus E. minor ( Marsh, 1870) and all gavialoids more closely related to them than to Eogavialis africanus .

Emended diagnosis.—A basal gavialoid that can be differentiated from any other crocodylian by the following combination of characters: an unusually enlarged foramen aereum, dentary alveoli arranged in couplets, evident “quadrate crest” ventrally developed at least on quadrates and pterygoids, nasals reaching and deeply entering between premaxillae, W−shaped basioccipital tuberosity. A further peculiarity could be represented by the presence of an unusual “steplike” widening of the orbital margin of prefrontal.