Meet the hoofed, galloping crocodile that once hunted mammals on land

Nature · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Long before modern crocodiles were strictly aquatic, Boverisuchus roamed the Eocene landscape. With hoof-like toes, serrated teeth, and a body built for running, this terrestrial predator was so distinct that its fossilized remains were once mistaken for those of surviving non-avian dinosaurs. It was a true land-based reptile.

Boverisuchus, a genus of planocraniid crocodyliforms, existed during the early to middle Eocene, roughly between the Ypresian and Lutetian stages. These creatures were relatively modest in size, measuring between 2.2 and 3.6 metres in length and weighing approximately 100 kilograms. First named by paleontologist Oskar Kuhn in 1938, the genus faced taxonomic confusion for decades, with many researchers classifying its species as synonyms of Pristichampsus. However, a 2013 revision by Brochu reinstated Boverisuchus as a valid genus after determining that the type material for Pristichampsus was insufficiently diagnostic.

The physical adaptations of Boverisuchus suggest a lifestyle far removed from the water-dwelling crocodiles of today. It possessed long limbs and hoof-like toes, traits that indicate a cursorial, or running, habitus. Its tail was round in cross-section rather than flattened, and it lacked the characteristic osteoderm crests seen in modern species. These features, combined with its ability to gallop, suggest that Boverisuchus was a terrestrial hunter. Its ziphodont teeth—laterally compressed, sharp, and serrated—further confirm this, as they were designed for slicing flesh rather than the drowning tactics used by modern crocodilians.

The evolutionary placement of Boverisuchus remains a subject of significant scientific debate. Phylogenetic studies have struggled to reach a consensus, with some analyses placing the family Planocraniidae within the crocodilian crown group, while others, such as a 2018 study by Lee and Yates, place them outside it entirely. A 2021 study by Rio and Mannion further highlighted this uncertainty, placing the group as a sister to Longirostres. Regardless of its exact lineage, Boverisuchus occupied a unique ecological niche, coexisting in North America with predatory mammals like Harpagolestes and Mesonyx, and actively hunting prey such as the tapiroid Helaletes.

The confusion surrounding Boverisuchus extends to its historical discovery. Because its serrated teeth so closely resembled those of theropod dinosaurs, early paleontologists mistakenly believed that some non-avian dinosaurs had survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. This misidentification highlights how radically different the morphology of Boverisuchus was compared to the aquatic reptiles we recognize today.

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