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

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