| Boverisuchus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| RestoredB. magnifrons skeleton | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauria |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Clade: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Clade: | Eusuchia |
| Family: | †Planocraniidae |
| Genus: | †Boverisuchus Kuhn,1938 |
| Type species | |
| †Boverisuchus magnifrons Kuhn, 1938 | |
| Species | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Boverisuchus is anextinctgenus ofplanocraniidcrocodyliforms known from the early to middleEocene (Ypresian toLutetian stages) ofGermany and westernNorth America.[2][3] It was a relatively small crocodyliform with an estimated total length of approximately 2.2–3.6 metres (7.2–11.8 ft).[4]
Thetype speciesBoverisuchus magnifrons was first named by paleontologistOskar Kuhn in1938, from theLutetian of Germany alongsideWeigeltisuchus geiseltalensis. Most paleontologists have considered both species to representjunior synonyms of the type species ofPristichampsus,P. rollinatii. Following a revision of the genusPristichampsus by Brochu (2013),P. rollinati was found to be based on insufficiently diagnostic material and therefore is anomen dubium whileBoverisuchus was reinstated as a valid genus. Brochu (2013) also assignedCrocodylus vorax, which has been referred to asPristichampsus vorax since Langston (1975), as the second species ofBoverisuchus. According to Brochu (2013), material from the middle Eocene ofItaly andTexas may represent another yet unnamed species. The two Asian species ofPlanocrania were found to be most closely related toBoverisuchus using aphylogenetic analysis. The namePlanocraniidae was reinstated to contain these genera and replace Pristichampsidae.[2]
Phylogenetic analyses based purely onmorphological data have generally placed Planocraniidae in abasal position within thecrocodiliancrown group. Some of these analyses have found that planocraniids lie just outsideBrevirostres, a group that includesalligators,caimans, andcrocodiles but notgharials.[2][5][6] However, molecular studies usingDNA sequencing have found the group Brevirostres to be invalid upon finding that crocodiles and gavialids are more closely related than alligators.[7][8][9][10][11]
A 2018tip dating study by Lee & Yates using bothmolecular,morphological andstratigraphic data instead recovered the planocraniids outside crown groupCrocodylia. Below is acladogram from that study:[10]
In 2021, Rio & Mannion conducted a newphylogenetic study using a heavily modified morphological data set, and also noted the lack of consensus and difficulty in placing Planocraniidae. In their study, they recovered Planocraniidae within Crocodylia, as thesister group toLongirostres, as shown in the cladogram below:[1]
Based on other planocraniids,Boverisuchus is assumed to have had heavilyarmoured skin, and long limbs suggesting acursorial (i.e. running) habitus. It also had hoof-like toes, suggesting that it lived more on land than in the water, and that it therefore probably hunted terrestrialmammals.[12] Theteeth ofBoverisuchus were ziphodont; i.e., laterally compressed, sharp, and with serrated edges (characteristic of terrestrial crocodyliforms that are unable to dispatch their prey by drowning them). Due to their similarity to those of certaintheropoddinosaurs they were initially mistaken for theropod teeth, leading paleontologists to believe that some non-avian dinosaurs survived theCretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.[12]
Some material referred toPristichampsus rollinatii shows further features adapting the animal to this lifestyle. The tail was more reminiscent of a dinosaur's, being round in cross-section and lacking theosteoderm crest observed in extant crocodile species. It would also have been capable ofgalloping.[13]
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