''Dollosuchoides'', colloquially known as the Crocodile of Maransart, is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

monospecific genus of

gavialoid Gavialoidea is one of three superfamilies of crocodylians, the other two being Alligatoroidea and Crocodyloidea. Although many extinct species are known, only the gharial ''Gavialis gangeticus'' and the false gharial ''Tomistoma schlegelii'' are ...

crocodilian, traditionally regarded as a member of the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Tomistominae. Fossils have been found in the

Brussel Formation The Brussel Formation ( nl, Formatie van Brussel; french: Formation de Bruxelles; abbreviation: Br) is a geologic formation in the subsurface of central Belgium. The formation is named after the Belgian capital, Brussels. It consists of shallow mar ...

of Maransart, Belgium and date back to the middle Eocene. The holotype, IRScNB 482, was discovered in 1915 and it was prepared during 1926–1927 by M. Hubert, J. Mehschaert and M. Jean de Kleermaeker, and also in 1927, Louis Dollo had the holotype put on display in the Museum of Natural Sciences and he intended to describe the specimen but he died in 1931 before he was able to describe it and the specimen was eventually referred to ''

Dollosuchus ''Dollosuchus'' (meaning "Louis Dollo's crocodile") is an extinct monospecific genus of tomistomine crocodilian originally named as a species of ''Gavialis''. It is a basal form possibly related to ''Kentisuchus'', according to several phylogene ...

'' by Swinton (1937)Swinton, W. E. (1937)
The Crocodile of Maransart (Dollosuchus dixoni [Owen]).
''Mémoire'' 80: 3–46 until it was moved to its own genus by Brochu (2007). It is currently housed in the

Gand Museum Gand may refer to: * Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest ...

in Belgium.

Phylogeny

Below is a cladogram based morphological studies comparing skeletal features that shows ''Dollosuchoides'' as a member of Tomistominae, related to the

false gharial The false gharial (''Tomistoma schlegelii''), also known by the names Malayan gharial, Sunda gharial and tomistoma is a freshwater crocodilian of the family Gavialidae native to Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra and Java. It is listed as Vu ...

: Based on morphological studies of

taxa, the

tomistomines Tomistominae is a subfamily of crocodylians that includes one living species, the false gharial. Many more extinct species are known, extending the range of the subfamily back to the Eocene epoch. In contrast to the false gharial, which is a fre ...

(including the living

) were long thought to be classified as

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

s and not closely related to

gavialoids Gavialoidea is one of three superfamilies of crocodylians, the other two being Alligatoroidea and Crocodyloidea. Although many extinct species are known, only the gharial ''Gavialis gangeticus'' and the false gharial ''Tomistoma schlegelii'' are ...

. However, recent molecular studies using

DNA sequencing DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

have consistently indicated that the

(''Tomistoma'') (and by inference other related extinct forms in Tomistominae) actually belong to Gavialoidea (and Gavialidae). Below is a cladogram from a 2018 tip dating study by Lee & Yates simultaneously using morphological, molecular (

), and stratigraphic ( fossil age) data that shows ''Dollosuchoides'' as a

, more

basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...

than the last common ancestor to both the

gharial The gharial (''Gavialis gangeticus''), also known as gavial or fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians. Mature females are long, and males . Adult males have a distinct b ...

and the

References

Crocodilians Eocene crocodylomorphs Eocene reptiles of Europe Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera Fossil taxa described in 2007 {{paleo-archosaur-stub