Chrysochampsa

Chrysochampsa is an extinct monospecific genus of caiman of the clade Brachychampsini. Fossils have been found from the Golden Valley Formation of North Dakota and date back to the Wasatchian regional North American faunal stage of the early Eocene. During this time North Dakota experienced the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum, creating lush forests, swamps and meandering rivers that were the home to at least four distinct crocodilians. Unlike the contemporary Ahdeskatanka, which was a small animal with crushing teeth, Chrysochampsa would have been a generalist. Due to its size and lack of significant mammalian carnivores, it would have been the apex predator of the region. The genus had been proposed to be synonymous with Allognathosuchus in 2004, but this claim has since then been repeatedly refuted. A 2024 study has recovered it as an early branching member of the Caimaninae, forming a clade with Cretaceous forms such as Brachychampsa. Chrysochampsa is a monotypic genus, containing only the type species, Chrysochampsa mlynarskii.