Cynodontosuchus


Cynodontosuchus is an extinct genus of baurusuchid mesoeucrocodylian. Fossils have been found from Argentina of Late Cretaceous age from the Bajo de la Carpa Formation, the Pichi Picun Leufu Formation. the Tiupampan Santa Lucía Formation of Bolivia.

Description

Cynodontosuchus was the first non-Cenozoic sebecosuchian to be described, being assigned to the suborder in 1896 by Arthur Smith Woodward. It was described on the basis of an incomplete snout and articulated lower jaw. The presence of a large saber-like second maxillary tooth and a diastema between the maxilla and premaxilla that made room for a large mandibular tooth suggests that Cynodontosuchus is a member of the family Baurusuchidae. It has been proposed several times that the genus is a senior synonym of Baurusuchus. However, it differs from Baurusuchus in that its rostrum is less deep and has five maxillary teeth.