Harpacochampsa

Harpacochampsa; Temporal range: Early Miocene
	skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Crocodilia
Superfamily:	Gavialoidea
Genus:	†Harpacochampsa; Megirian, Murray & Willis 1991
Type species
	†Harpacochampsa camfieldensis; Megirian, Murray & Willis 1991

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 long slender snout reminiscent of that of a false gharial, demonstrating that it was a piscivore in life.^[1] It was originally tentatively placed within Mekosuchinae,^[1] although this has been frequently disputed,^[2] as mekosuchines do not have such long, thin snouts.^[3] Phylogenetic studies have placed Harpacochampsa within Mekosuchinae, as a basal member of Crocodyloidea, or as a member of Gavialoidea.^[2]

Harpacochampsa camfieldensis (front) and Baru darrowi (back, surfacing)

Below is a cladogram from a 2018 tip dating study by Lee & Yates simultaneously using morphological, molecular (DNA sequencing), and stratigraphic (fossil age) data that shows Harpacochampsa as a gavialid:^[4]

Gavialidae

	Gavialis gangeticus Gharial

	Gavialis bengawanicus†

Gavialis browni†

Gryposuchus colombianus†

Ikanogavialis†

	Gryposuchus pachakamue†

	Piscogavialis†

Harpacochampsa†

	Toyotamaphimeia†

	Penghusuchus†

Gavialosuchus†

	Tomistoma lusitanica†

	Tomistoma schlegelii False gharial

References[]

^ ^a ^b Willis, P. M. A., "Review of Crocodilians of Australasia Archived 2009-09-30 at the Wayback Machine" (pdf).
^ ^a ^b Jorgo Ristevski; Gilbert J. Price; Vera Weisbecker; Steven W. Salisbury (9 June 2021). "First record of a tomistomine crocodylian from Australia". Scientific Reports. 11 (12158): 12158. Bibcode:2021NatSR..1112158R. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-91717-y. PMC 8190066. PMID 34108569.
^ Brochu, Christopher A, American Zoologist, June 2001 "Crocodylian snouts toward adaptive radiation".
^ Michael S. Y. Lee; Adam M. Yates (27 June 2018). "Tip-dating and homoplasy: reconciling the shallow molecular divergences of modern gharials with their long fossil". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 285 (1881). doi:10.1098/rspb.2018.1071. PMC 6030529. PMID 30051855.

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[willis-1] Willis, P. M. A., "Review of Crocodilians of Australasia Archived 2009-09-30 at the Wayback Machine" (pdf).

[Ristevski2021-2] Jorgo Ristevski; Gilbert J. Price; Vera Weisbecker; Steven W. Salisbury (9 June 2021). "First record of a tomistomine crocodylian from Australia". Scientific Reports. 11 (12158): 12158. Bibcode:2021NatSR..1112158R. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-91717-y. PMC 8190066. PMID 34108569.

[3] Brochu, Christopher A, American Zoologist, June 2001 "Crocodylian snouts toward adaptive radiation".

[LeeYates2018-4] Michael S. Y. Lee; Adam M. Yates (27 June 2018). "Tip-dating and homoplasy: reconciling the shallow molecular divergences of modern gharials with their long fossil". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 285 (1881). doi:10.1098/rspb.2018.1071. PMC 6030529. PMID 30051855.

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