0.4 Crocodile Borealosuchus Fossil Tooth Judith River FM Montana COA Display
Location: Judith River Formation, Montana (Private Land Origin)
Weight: 0.3 Ounces
Dimensions: 0.4 Inches Long, 0.2 Inches Wide, 0.2 Inches Thick
Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
Comes with a Free Display.
The item pictured is the one you will receive.
Cretaceous Age through to the Eocene Age
Name: Borealosuchus (Boreal crocodile).
Named By: Chris Brochu - 1997.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Crocodylomorpha, Crocodylia.
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: Up to 2.8 meters long, though there is some variance between species.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous through to the Eocene.
Fossil representation: Skulls and postcranial remains.
The genus Borealosuchus was established following a revision of the genus Leidyosuchus, which had long been regarded as a “wastebasket taxon”, a category where species that did not clearly belong elsewhere were often placed. As a result of this taxonomic review, four former species of Leidyosuchus were reassigned to Borealosuchus, and since then, two additional species have been added to the genus.
Borealosuchus was a mid-sized crocodile, with the largest species, Borealosuchus acutidentatus, reaching up to 280 centimeters (2.8 meters) in length and possessing a skull approximately 36 centimeters long. Its moderate size and physical adaptations suggest it was an effective predator in the rivers, lakes, and wetlands it inhabited.
Remarkably, Borealosuchus was among the crocodilian genera that survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–T) extinction, the catastrophic event that brought an end to the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and many large marine reptiles. The survival of Borealosuchus, along with other crocodiles such as Dyrosaurus and Brachychampsa, suggests that certain physiological and ecological traits—including a semi-aquatic lifestyle, dietary flexibility, and resilience to environmental stress—enabled these reptiles to endure one of Earth’s most devastating mass extinctions.
