Terminonaris

Terminonaris is a genus of extinct pholidosaurid crocodyliforms that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian and Turonian) epoch. The name means: “enlarged snout or nose” at the front of the skull. Terminonaris is an early crocodile, within a subgroup called Mesoeucrocodylia. Its remains have only been found in North America and Europe. Originally known under the generic name Teleorhinus, it was once believed to be a teleosaurid (a family of marine gavial-like thalattosuchians). Both prehistoric crocodiles such as Terminonaris, as well as modern crocodiles, belong to the same group called crocodyliformes, although modern crocodiles have specific features that indicate they are distant relatives of this species and members of the subgroup Eusuchia.