Thecachampsa

Thecachampsa is an extinct genus of gavialoid crocodylian, traditionally regarded as a member of the subfamily Tomistominae. Fossils have been found from the eastern United States in deposits of Miocene age. Those named in the 19th century were distinguished primarily by the shape of their teeth, and have since been combined with T. antiquus. More recently erected species were reassigned from other genera, although their assignment to Thecachampsa has since been questioned.

Thecachampsa

Ryan Somma · CC BY 2.0 · 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
GavialoideaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Crocodylia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mesoeucrocodylia

Time the record covers

At least 55 million years on record.

The record covers at least 56 Mya to 210 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 59.24 Mya to 14 ka.

Paleocene — about 4 of 39 occurrencesEocene — about 1 of 39 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 7 of 39 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 24 of 39 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 2 of 39 occurrencesPleistocene — about 1 of 39 occurrences60–58 Mya — about 1 occurrence58–56 Mya — about 2 occurrences56–54 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences54–52 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences52–50 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences30–28 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences28–26 Mya — about 2 occurrences26–24 Mya — about 3 occurrences24–22 Mya — about 2 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences18–16 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences16–14 Mya — about 4 occurrences14–12 Mya — about 9 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 4 occurrences10–8.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences8.1–6.0 Mya — about 3 occurrences6.0–4.0 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.0–2.0 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.0–0 Mya — about 1 occurrence56 Mya210 ka60 Mya0 Mya

39 occurrences of Thecachampsa 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

39 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

13 formations

Calvert — 38.54°N, 76.73°WCalvert — 37.93°N, 77.51°WCalvert — 38.17°N, 76.87°WCalvert — 38.16°N, 76.83°WPeace River — 27.83°N, 81.97°WPeace River — 29.65°N, 82.35°WPeace River — 29.68°N, 82.37°WChandler Bridge — 33.03°N, 80.27°WChandler Bridge — 32.87°N, 80.03°WChandler Bridge — 33.01°N, 80.06°WAquia — 38.42°N, 77.26°WAquia — 38.46°N, 77.27°WAquia — 38.50°N, 77.59°WAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WAlachua — 29.65°N, 82.60°WSocorro — 11.99°N, 70.11°WSocorro — 11.19°N, 70.15°WChoptank — 38.41°N, 76.42°WChoptank — 38.16°N, 76.83°WKirkwood — 39.30°N, 75.20°WNanjemoy — 38.82°N, 76.75°WYorktown — 35.40°N, 76.80°WAshley — 32.97°N, 80.20°WCurré — 8.86°N, 83.08°WStatenville — 30.40°N, 83.00°W

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The named rock units Thecachampsa has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 6 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Thecachampsa and its relatives

Miocene

Where Thecachampsa and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

589 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 35 sites for Thecachampsa, 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

21 references

Each of the 39 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. 9 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 content2

Picture of Thecachampsa

Credit
Ryan Somma
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

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 itGavialoidea through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Cope 1867