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Borealosuchus (Crocodylia) from the Paleocene of Big Bend National Park, Texas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Christopher A. Brochu*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas, Austin 78712

Extract

Fossil vertebrates have been described from the Paleocene of Big Bend National Park, Brewster County, Texas, by Wilson et al. (1952), Wilson (1967), Schiebout (1973, 1974), and Standhardt (1986). These studies focused on the mammalian component of the fauna, although crocodylian and chelonian remains are known. Schiebout (1973) referred a partial dentary to Diplocynodon. Teeth in the Black Peaks Formation were referred to Allognathosuchus by Straight (1996); Standardt (1986) discussed isolated crocodyliform teeth from across the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in this area, but did not assign any of them to named taxa. Brochu (1996) briefly reviewed more complete remains, which were found to include an alligatorid and a member of Borealosuchus. The giant crocodylian Deinosuchus and a goniopholidid are known from underlying Cretaceous sediments (Rowe et al., 1992), and overlying Eocene units are known to preserve remains of the ziphodont taxon Pristichampsus (Busbey, 1986).

Type
Paleontological Notes
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 2000

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Footnotes

*

Present address: Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605 <[email protected]>

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