Gryposuchus

Gryposuchus is an extinct genus of gavialid crocodilian. Fossils have been found from Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and the Peruvian Amazon. The genus existed during the Miocene epoch. One recently described species, G. croizati, grew to an estimated length of 10 metres (33 ft). Gryposuchus is the type genus of the subfamily Gryposuchinae, although a 2018 study indicates that Gryposuchinae and Gryposuchus might be paraphyletic and rather an evolutionary grade towards the gharial.

Gryposuchus

Driptosaurus · 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
GryposuchinaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Crocodylia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mesoeucrocodylia
Length
10.15 mWikidata
Mass
1745 kgWikidata

Time the record covers

At least 13 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 2.58 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Paleocene — about 0 of 31 occurrencesEocene — about 0 of 31 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 0 of 31 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 29 of 31 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 31 occurrencesPleistocene — about 1 of 31 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences55–53 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences53–51 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 1 occurrence15–13 Mya — about 4 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 8 occurrences11–9.5 Mya — about 6 occurrences9.5–7.6 Mya — about 5 occurrences7.6–5.7 Mya — about 4 occurrences5.7–3.8 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences3.8–1.9 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.9–0 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences15.98 Mya2.58 Mya57 Mya0 Mya

31 occurrences of Gryposuchus on record, most of them in the Miocene. 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

31 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

9 formations

Urumaco — 11.22°N, 70.24°WUrumaco — 11.25°N, 70.27°WPebas — 3.99°S, 73.17°WPebas — 4.01°S, 73.37°WPebas — 4.30°S, 73.46°WPebas — 4.01°S, 73.03°WSolimoes — 10.12°S, 66.88°WSolimoes — 10.94°S, 69.34°WLa Victoria — 3.30°N, 75.13°WLa Victoria — 3.30°N, 75.17°WVillavieja — 3.30°N, 75.17°WSolimões — 9.08°S, 68.67°WSolimões — 7.84°S, 69.15°WItuzaingo — 31.48°S, 60.23°WCastillo — 10.37°N, 70.05°WCaujarao — 11.50°N, 69.52°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Gryposuchus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 5 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Gryposuchus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Gryposuchus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

382 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 27 sites for Gryposuchus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

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

16 references

Each of the 31 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. 3 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Gryposuchus

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

No 3D scan of Gryposuchus 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 itGryposuchinae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Gürich 1912