Pristichampsus
| Pristichampsus Fossil range: Eocene |
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Extinct (fossil)
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P. rollinatii (Gray, 1831) |
Pristichampsus is an extinct genus of crocodylian that grew to approximately 3 m (10 ft) in length.
Pristichampsus was heavily armoured, with long limbs indicating a cursorial (i.e. running) lifestyle. Its toes had hoove-like unguls on them. Paleontologists hypothesise it hunted terrestrial mammals. Pristichampsus's teeth were laterally compressed, sharp and had serrated edges. Due to their similarity to those of certain theropod dinosaurs they were initially mistaken for theropod teeth, leading paleontologists to believe some dinosaurs survived the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event.
Several remains of Pristichampsus have been found around the world: P. rollinatii, the type species from the Lutetian of France; P. vorax from the Middle Eocene of Wyoming and and West Texas; P. hengdongensis from the Paleocene of the Hengdon Basin in China, P. birjukovi and P. kuznetzovi from the Middle Eocene of Eastern Kazakhstan; P. geiseltalensis and P. magnifrons from the Lutetian of Germany.
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