A reassessment of the “alligatoroid” eusuchian from the Late Cretaceous of Hungary and its taxonomic implications.

The presence of an indeterminate alligatorioid in the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Csehbánya Formation of Hungary mostly represented by isolated lower jaw elements was previously reported by the senior author (Rabi 2005; Rabi 2006). However, new fragmentary cranial material from the same site indicates that this taxon is not an alligatorioid but rather shows affinities with Late Cretaceous European potential stem-crocodylians such as Allodaposuchus precedens Nopcsa (1928); Musturzabalsuchus buffetauti Buscalioni et al. (1997) and Massaliasuchus affuvelensis Martin and Buffetaut (2008). Here we provide a preliminary comparison with the aforementioned taxa, discuss some relevant taxonomic issues and argue against a European origin of alligatoroids.