Balanerodus
Balanerodus is an extinct monospecific genus of alligatorid crocodylian. Fossils have been found from the Fitzcarrald Arch in the Peruvian Amazon and the Honda Group, Colombia#La [Victoria Formation|La Victoria Formation] of the Honda Group in Colombia and date back to the Friasian and Laventan regional South American land [mammal age]s of the Middle Miocene.
Description
It was an atypical crocodilian with mysterious acorn-like teeth and co-existed with many other crocodilians, which were more diverse at the time period than they are today, including terrestrial predatory sebecid Langstonia, the massive Purussaurus, and flat headed duck-like Mourasuchus. Its teeth and the diversity of crocodilians suggest it occupied a different niche than they did. Another animal with acorn-like teeth is the Vaquita.A 2015 study found teeth indistinguishable from those of Balanerodus among a set of Purussaurus teeth, suggesting that the two genera might be synonymous.