Harpacochampsa
Harpacochampsa is a poorly known Early Miocene crocodilian from the Bullock Creek lagerstätte of the Northern Territory, Australia. The current specimen consists of a partial skull and fragments of a slender snout reminiscent of that of a false gharial. It is tentatively placed within Mekosuchinae,[1] though some experts disagree with this, as H. camfieldensis would be the only known mekosuchine with a long, thin snout.[2] Its long snout demonstrates that it was a piscivore in life.[1]
| Harpacochampsa Temporal range: Early Miocene | |
|---|---|
 | |
| skull | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Crocodilia |
| Family: | Crocodylidae |
| Subfamily: | †Mekosuchinae |
| Genus: | †Harpacochampsa Megirian, Murray & Willis 1991 |
| Type species | |
| †Harpacochampsa camfieldensis Megirian, Murray & Willis 1991 | |
Harpacochampsa camfieldensis (front) and Baru darrowi (back, surfacing)
References
- Willis, P. M. A., "Review of Crocodilians of Australasia Archived 2009-09-30 at the Wayback Machine" (pdf).
- Brochu, Christopher A, American Zoologist, June 2001 "Crocodylian snouts toward adaptive radiation".
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