Diplocynodon

Diplocynodon is an extinct genus of eusuchian, either an alligatoroid crocodilian or a stem-group crocodilian, that lived during the Paleocene to Middle Miocene in Europe. Some species may have reached lengths of 3 metres (9.8 ft), while others probably did not exceed 1 metre (3.3 ft). The largest species D.hantoniensis measured 5.9 m in length. They are almost exclusively found in freshwater environments. The various species are thought to have been opportunistic aquatic predators.

Diplocynodon

Ghedoghedo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
AlligatoroideaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Crocodylia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mesoeucrocodylia

Time the record covers

At least 71 million years on record.

The record covers at least 72.2 Mya to 774 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 83.6 Mya to 129 ka.

Late Cretaceous — about 1 of 130 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 4 of 130 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 43 of 130 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 18 of 130 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 63 of 130 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 130 occurrencesPleistocene — about 1 of 130 occurrences85–82 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences82–80 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences80–77 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences77–74 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences74–71 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences63–60 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences60–57 Mya — about 2 occurrences57–54 Mya — about 3 occurrences54–51 Mya — about 3 occurrences51–48 Mya — about 3 occurrences48–45 Mya — about 8 occurrences45–43 Mya — about 8 occurrences43–40 Mya — about 5 occurrences40–37 Mya — about 4 occurrences37–34 Mya — about 9 occurrences34–31 Mya — about 5 occurrences31–28 Mya — about 5 occurrences28–26 Mya — about 5 occurrences26–23 Mya — about 5 occurrences23–20 Mya — about 14 occurrences20–17 Mya — about 14 occurrences17–14 Mya — about 25 occurrences14–11 Mya — about 7 occurrences11–8.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence8.5–5.7 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences5.7–2.8 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.8–0 Mya — about 1 occurrence72.2 Mya774 ka85 Mya0 Mya

130 occurrences of Diplocynodon on record, most of them in the Miocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

130 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

46 formations

Tudela — 42.07°N, 1.61°WTudela — 42.06°N, 1.55°WUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.15°N, 9.88°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.44°N, 11.04°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.66°N, 10.23°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.63°N, 11.80°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.09°N, 10.03°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.16°N, 10.11°ECalcaries de Tàrrega — 41.65°N, 1.17°EMessel — 49.93°N, 8.73°EMessel — 49.93°N, 8.75°EEibiswald — 46.75°N, 15.51°ECorrales — 41.37°N, 5.72°WCorrales — 41.32°N, 5.71°WCorrales — 41.37°N, 5.75°WMost — 50.38°N, 13.33°EMost — 50.42°N, 13.36°EEntrala — 41.40°N, 5.67°WEntrala — 41.43°N, 5.57°WEntrala — 41.40°N, 5.29°WWasatch — 42.37°N, 108.91°WArgiles d'lignite du Soissonnais — 49.33°N, 2.66°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.48°N, 10.10°ELaa — 48.37°N, 16.35°EMaritsa — 42.05°N, 25.65°EMarshalltown — 40.30°N, 74.30°WBridger — 42.37°N, 108.91°WTienen — 50.82°N, 5.10°EUpper Headon Beds — 50.63°N, 1.55°WMazaterón — 41.53°N, 2.12°WVille — 50.90°N, 6.45°EWillwood — 44.82°N, 109.05°WBohlen — 51.19°N, 12.46°EMelker Sand — 48.29°N, 15.59°EAreniscas de Cabrerizos — 40.96°N, 5.67°WSables de Bracheux — 49.27°N, 4.15°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Diplocynodon has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 22 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 43 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Diplocynodon and its relatives

Miocene

Where Diplocynodon and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,680 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 120 sites for Diplocynodon, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

76 references

Each of the 130 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 64 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Diplocynodon

Credit
Ghedoghedo
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Photography scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Diplocynodon hantoniensis · NHMUK:PAL:PV OR 25238

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAlligatoroidea through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Pomel 1847