A new Early Cretaceous crocodyliform from Niger

Stolokrosuchus lapparenti n.g.n.sp. from Aptian rocks exhibits clear autapomorphies and shares many features with the peirosaurid crocodyliforms from Upper Cretaceous deposits in South America. A phylogenetic analysis groups Stolokrosuchus with these taxa in a monophyletic assemblage and places the clade of peirosaurid crocodyliforms as the sister-taxon of Eusuchia. The Early Cretaceous occurrence of Stolokrosuchus suggests a greater temporal and geographic distribution for Peirosauridae. Additional Early Cretaceous crocodyliforms share a similar South American - African distribution, further supporting a faunal communication between these continents up until at least the Aptian.