Leidyosuchus

Leidyosuchus (meaning "Leidy's crocodile") is an extinct genus of alligatoroid from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta. It was named in 1907 by Lawrence Lambe, and the type species is L. canadensis. It is known from a number of specimens from the middle Campanian age Dinosaur Park Formation. It was a medium-sized alligatorid, with a maximum skull length greater than 40 centimeters (16 in). A number of species had been assigned to this genus over the years, including: L. acutidentatus (Sternberg, 1932), from the Paleocene of Saskatchewan; L. formidabilis (Erickson, 1976), from the Paleocene of North Dakota and Wyoming; L. gilmorei (Mook, 1942), from the Campanian of Alberta; L. multidentatus (Mook, 1930); L. riggsi (Schmidt, 1938); L. sternbergii (Gilmore, 1910), from the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming; and L. wilsoni (Mook, 1959), from the Eocene of Wyoming. However, in 1997 Chris Brochu reevaluated the genus and reassigned most of the species, transferring L. acutidentatus, L. formidabilis, L. sternbergii, and L. wilsoni to the new genus Borealosuchus, and L. multidentatus to the new genus Listrognathosuchus, proposing L. gilmorei as a synonym of L. canadensis, and finding L. riggsi to be too fragmentary to be determinable. Leidyosuchus is one of the basal-most members of the superfamily Alligatoroidea. Leidyosuchus's placement within Alligatoroidea can be shown in the cladogram below, based on a 2018 tip dating study by Lee & Yates that simultaneously used morphological, molecular (DNA sequencing), and stratigraphic (fossil age) data.

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Related concepts (5)

Diplocynodon

Diplocynodon is an extinct genus of alligatoroid crocodilian that lived during the Paleocene to Middle Miocene in Europe. Some species may have reached lengths of , while others probably did not exceed . They are almost exclusively found in freshwater environments. The various species are thought to have been opportunistic aquatic predators. In the nineteenth century, D. steineri was named from Styria, Austria and D. styriacus was named from Austria and France. A third Austrian species, Enneodon ungeri, was placed in its own genus.

Alligatoroidea

Alligatoroidea is one of three superfamilies of crocodylians, the other two being Crocodyloidea and Gavialoidea. Alligatoroidea evolved in the Late Cretaceous period, and consists of the alligators and caimans, as well as extinct members more closely related to the alligators than the two other groups. The superfamily Alligatoroidea is thought to have split from the crocodile-gharial lineage in the late Cretaceous, about 80 million years ago, but possibly as early as 100 million years ago based on molecular phylogenetics.

Stangerochampsa

Stangerochampsa is an extinct genus of globidontan alligatoroid, possibly an alligatorine or a stem-caiman, from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta. It is based on RTMP.86.61.1, a skull, partial lower jaws, and partial postcranial skeleton discovered in the late Campanian–early Maastrichtian-age Horseshoe Canyon Formation. Stangerochampsa was described in 1996 by Wu and colleagues. The type species is S. mccabei. The generic name honors the Stanger family, the owners of the ranch where the specimen was found, and the species name honors James Ross McCabe, who discovered, collected, and prepared it.