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Concept
Harpacochampsa
Summary
Harpacochampsa is a poorly known Early Miocene crocodilian from the Bullock Creek lagerstätte of the Northern Territory, Australia. The current specimen consists of a partial skull and fragments of a long, slender snout reminiscent of that of a false gharial, demonstrating that it was a piscivore in life.
It was originally tentatively placed within a group of Australian crocodilians now known as the Mekosuchinae, although this has been frequently disputed, with other authors instead suggesting it may have been a more basal crocodyloid or a type of gavialid.
Harpacochampsa was named on the basis of several bones, primarily of the skull, discovered at the Bullock Creek fossil site in the Northern Territory of Australia. The type description lists four specimens, the holotype being formed by the right side of the back of the skull, preserving both the infratemporal fenestra and the supratemporal fenestra. Additional fossils include the tip of the snout preserving most of the premaxillae, a piece of the mandible and two osteoderms.
The genus name is a combination of the Greek words "harpaco" (to seize) and "champsos" (crocodile), translating to "seizing crocodile", a nod to the anatomy of the premaxillary teeth and their inferred function. The species name meanwhile alludes to the Camfield Fossil Beds, of which Bullock Creek is a part of.
The tip of the snout in Harpacochampsa is broadly similar to more slender-snouted species of Crocodylus, with the closest match in terms of robustness being the American crocodile. The sutures of the snout also most closely resemble this species, although the premaxillae are proportionally narrower. As a whole, the snout tip is relatively deep for its width, the cross-section resembling a flipped D towards the back of the preserved bone with a flat palate and sloping lateral edges. The premaxillae are roughly circular in shape and contain five teeth on each side, separated from the following maxillary teeth by a notch that presumably receives an enlarged dentary tooth, as in many other crocodilians.
Official source
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