"Crocodylus" megarhinus

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Crocodylus megarhinus is an extinct crocodile that lived in what is now Egypt during the early Oligocene, about 34 to 28 million years ago. It is known from skull fossils found in the Fayum Depression. The species was first named by British paleontologist Charles William Andrews in 1905 from a partial skull. A complete skull was found in 1907 and recognized as this species in 1927. A second crocodile named Crocodylus articeps was described at the same time, but many scientists now think articeps is the same species as megarhinus, or a juvenile form of it.

C. megarhinus shared several features with living Nile crocodiles, such as a robust, triangular skull that is relatively short and teeth with similar shapes. It also has constrictions in the upper jaw that create spaces for the lower jaw teeth when the mouth closes. Because of these similarities, some researchers have suggested it could have been an ancestor of the Nile crocodile.

Taxonomic placement is debated. Although it has often been listed in the genus Crocodylus, many recent studies place it outside that genus, in a broader group called crocodyloids, and no new genus name has been accepted for the species. Different analyses have given different placements: some place it near Crocodylus, others place it closer to other ancient crocodile lineages, and some suggest a relationship with a group called Mekosuchinae. Overall, its exact position in the crocodile family tree is still unclear.