Procaimanoidea

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Eocene,
{{fossilrange|46.2|41.2|ref={{cite journal |last1=Rio |first1=Jonathan P. |last2=Mannion |first2=Philip D. |date=6 September 2021 |title=Phylogenetic analysis of a new morphological dataset elucidates the evolutionary history of Crocodylia and resolves the long-standing gharial problem |journal=PeerJ |volume=9 |pages=e12094 |doi=10.7717/peerj.12094 |pmid=34567843 |pmc=8428266 |doi-access=free}}}}

| image = NMNH-USNM15996_1.jpg

| image_caption = Fossil specimen of P. utahensis

| taxon = Procaimanoidea

| authority = Gilmore, 1946

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

{{extinct}}P. utahensis Gilmore, 1946 (type)
{{extinct}}P. kayi (Mook, 1941 [originally Hassiacosuchus kayi])

}}

Procaimanoidea ("Before Caiman-forms") is an extinct genus of alligatorid from the Eocene of North America. It was named posthumously in 1946 by Charles W. Gilmore; the type species is P. utahensis, from the Uintan (middle Eocene) of Utah. It is based on USNM 15996, a nearly complete skull and partial left hind leg.{{cite journal |last=Gilmore |first=Charles W. |authorlink=Charles W. Gilmore |title=A new crocodilian from the Eocene of Utah |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=62–67}} A second species, P. kayi, was named in 1941 by C.C. Mook as a species of Hassiacosuchus, for remains from the Bridgerian (early Eocene) of Wyoming.{{cite journal |last=Mook |first=C.C. |year=1941 |title=A new crocodilian, Hassiacosuchus kayi, from the Bridger Eocene beds of Wyoming |journal=Annals of the Carnegie Museum |volume=28 |pages=207–220|doi=10.5962/p.330789 |s2cid=251510549 |doi-access=free }} It was reassigned to Procaimanoidea in 1967 by Wassersug and Hecht.{{cite journal |last=Wassersug |first=R.J. |author2=Hecht, M.K. |year=1967 |title=The status of the crocodylid genera Procaimanoidea and Hassiacosuchus in the New World |journal=Herpetologica |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=30–34}}

Description

Procaimanoidea was a small alligatorid, and slightly heterodont, the last four teeth on each side of the jaws having blunt tips.

Phylogeny

Recent studies have consistently resolved Procaimanoidea as a member of Alligatorinae, although its relative placement is disputed, as shown by the cladograms below.{{Cite journal|author1=Paula Bona |author2=Martín D. Ezcurra |author3=Francisco Barrios |author4=María V. Fernandez Blanco |year=2018 |title=A new Palaeocene crocodylian from southern Argentina sheds light on the early history of caimanines |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=285 |issue=1885 |pages=20180843 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2018.0843 |pmid=30135152 |pmc=6125902 }}{{cite journal |author1=Tobias Massonne |author2=Davit Vasilyan |author3=Márton Rabi |author4=Madelaine Böhme |year=2019 |title=A new alligatoroid from the Eocene of Vietnam highlights an extinct Asian clade independent from extant Alligator sinensis |journal=PeerJ |volume=7 |pages=e7562 |doi=10.7717/peerj.7562 |pmid=31720094 |pmc=6839522 |doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal|author1=Adam P. Cossette |author2=Christopher A. Brochu |year=2020 |title=A systematic review of the giant alligatoroid Deinosuchus from the Campanian of North America and its implications for the relationships at the root of Crocodylia |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=40 |pages=e1767638 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2020.1767638 |bibcode=2020JVPal..40E7638C |doi-access=free }}

Cladogram from 2018 Bona et al. study:

{{clade| style=font-size:85%;line-height:85%

|label1=Alligatorinae

|1={{clade

|1=Ceratosuchus burdoshi{{extinct}}

|2=Allognathosuchus polyodon{{extinct}}

|3=Allognathosuchus wartheni{{extinct}}

|4=Navajosuchus mooki{{extinct}}

|5=Arambourgia gaudryi{{extinct}}

|6={{clade

|1=Procaimanoidea kayi{{extinct}}

|2=Procaimanoidea utahensis{{extinct}} }}