Dentaneosuchus crassiproratus

Dentaneosuchus is a genus of large bodied sebecid crocodylomorph from the Middle Eocene of Issel and Réalmont (France). Originally described as Atacisaurus crassiproratus, the discovery of additional remains led to it being placed in a separate genus in 2023. It was tentatively recovered as the basalmost member of the family Sebecidae. Because of this Dentaneosuchus could play an important part in deciphering the origins and dispersal of European sebecids, as their presence on the continent, far away from their primary range in South America, is still not entirely resolved. It reached a similar size to the enormous Barinasuchus, making it not only one of the biggest sebecids but also the biggest terrestrial carnivore of Cenozoic Europe. Dentaneosuchus would have been an apex predator of its environment, capable of taking large prey such as Lophiodon. However, for as of yet unknown reasons crocodylomorphs would lose their spot as top predator in this part of the world by the end of the Eocene, with Dentaneosuchus representing one of the last members of its group in Europe.

Dentaneosuchus crassiproratus

Armin Reindl · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
DentaneosuchusPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Pseudosuchia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mesoeucrocodylia

Time the record covers

At most 19 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 56 Mya and 37.71 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Paleocene — about 0 of 2 occurrencesEocene — about 2 of 2 occurrencesEocene57–56 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences56–55 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences55–55 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences55–54 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences54–53 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences53–53 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences53–52 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences52–51 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences51–51 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences50–49 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences49–49 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences49–48 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences48–47 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences47–47 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences47–46 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences46–46 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences46–45 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences45–44 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences44–44 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences44–43 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences43–42 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences42–42 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences42–41 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences41–40 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences40–40 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences40–39 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences39–38 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences38–38 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences38–37 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences56.5 Mya37.2 Mya

2 occurrences of Dentaneosuchus crassiproratus on record, most of them in the Eocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

2 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

1 formation

Sables du Castrais — 43.37°N, 1.99°ESables du Castrais — 43.78°N, 2.19°E

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The named rock units Dentaneosuchus crassiproratus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Dentaneosuchus crassiproratus and its relatives

Eocene

Where Dentaneosuchus crassiproratus and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

15 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 2 sites for Dentaneosuchus crassiproratus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

1 reference

Each of the 2 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to doi.org. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Dentaneosuchus crassiproratus

Credit
Armin Reindl
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Dentaneosuchus crassiproratus was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itDentaneosuchus through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Astre 1931)