Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata | Class Reptilia Rank Genus | |
 | ||
Family †Paralligatoridae
Konzhukova, 1954 Similar Alligatorium, Batrachomimus, Kansajsuchus | ||
Shamosuchus is an extinct genus of neosuchian crocodile that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Santonian-Campanian) period in what is now the Gobi desert of Mongolia, approximately 85 to 74 million years ago.
Paleobiology
The eye and nasal openings were not raised above the skull as in modern crocodilians, so that the animal would have to raise its head completely out of the water to breathe. As this cranial morphology does not suit an ambush predator, it lends support to the idea of a diet of aquatic invertebrates. The teeth were adapted to crush bivalves, gastropods and other animals with a shell or exoskeleton. The genus was named in 1924 by Charles C. Mook.
Paralligator was synonymized with Shamosuchus by several authors, However, recent cladistic analysis of Paralligatoridae found Paralligator distinct from Shamosuchus.