Borealosuchus
Borealosuchus (meaning "boreal crocodile") is an extinct genus of crocodyliforms that lived from the Late Cretaceous to the Eocene in North America. It was named by Chris Brochu in 1997 for several species that had been assigned to "Leidyosuchus". The species assigned to it are: "B. sternbergii", the type species, from the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming; "B. acutidentatus", from the Paleocene of Saskatchewan; "B. formidabilis", from the Paleocene of North Dakota; "B. griffithi", from the Paleocene of Alberta; and "B. wilsoni", from the Eocene of Wyoming. "B. formidabilis" is particularly well -known, represented by the remains of many individuals from the Wannagan Creek site in North Dakota. "Borealosuchus" was a mid-sized crocodyliform; "B. acutidentatus" reached up to in length with a skull. Taxonomy. Six species of "Borealosuchus" are currently recognized. In order of their naming, they are "B. sternbergii", "B. acutidentatus", "B. wilsoni", "B. formidabilis", "B. griffithi", and "B. threeensis". Four of these species ("B. sternbergi", "B. acutidentatus", "B. wilsoni", and "B. formidabilis") were originally named as species of "Leidyosuchus". A sixth species of "Borealosuchus", "B. threeensis", was named in 2012. Fossils of this species were found in the Inversand  Company Marl Pit of Gloucester County, New Jersey. The specific name is a reference to Exit 3 of the New Jersey Turnpike, which is the closest highway exit to the type locality. The authors of the paper describing "B. threeensis" noted that the name is "in reference to a question every New Jersey resident encounters when traveling: 'Oh, you’re from New Jersey? Which exit?'". Classification. Although some earlier phylogenetic studies proposed "Borealosuchus" to be a member of Crocodylia, recent studies are now recovering "Borealosuchus" as a basal eusuchian not belonging to Crocodylia, as shown in the cladogram below: Borealosuchus