Barinasuchus

Barinasuchus (meaning "Barinas crocodile", in reference to where the type material was found) is an extinct genus of sebecid mesoeucrocodylian. The first specimen of Barinasuchus was recovered from the Miocene Ipururo Formation of Peru, and was described in 1977 by Éric Buffetaut and Robert Hoffstetter, though was originally assigned to Sebecus. Another specimen was recovered from the Eocene-age Divisadero Largo Formation of Argentina in 1984 by Zulma Brandoni de Gasparini. The type specimen was recovered from the Miocene-age Parángula Formation, and was described in 1982 by Alfredo Paolillo and Omar J. Linares.

Barinasuchus' body length has been estimated, based on comparisons with other crocodyliforms, at between 6.3–10 m (21–33 ft), though smaller estimates of 3–4 m (9.8–13.1 ft) have been suggested. Its body mass may have ranged from 1,610–1,720 kg (3,550–3,790 lb), making it considerably larger than any terrestrial predatory mammal alive today. Barinasuchus was heterodont, meaning that it possessed two types of teeth. Those of the premaxilla and the front of the maxilla were longer and more conical than those further back, which were shorter and thinner. The fourth mandibular (lower jaw) tooth was very large, and slotted into a prominent notch between the premaxilla and maxilla when the jaws were closed.