Orientalosuchus

Orientalosuchus is an extinct genus of crocodilian from the Late Eocene that was found in the Na Duong Formation in Vietnam. The genus was described in 2019 based on the fossil remains of at least 29 individuals and was key in establishing the clade Orientalosuchina, initially interpreted as a group of early alligatoroids endemic to Asia, although later studies have argued for them actually being crocodyloids instead. Orientalosuchus was a comparably small crocodilian with a blunt and rounded snout and dentition that featured both pointed teeth towards the front of the jaw and blunt, conical teeth in the back. During the Late Eocene it would have inhabited the tropical to warm-subtropical freshwater biomes of the Na Duong Formation, which featured ponds, an annoxic lake and swamp forests as some of the primary habitats. Orientalosuchus would have shared these with the narrow-snouted gavialoid Maomingosuchus and a large taxon similar to Asiatosuchus. Compared to these, interpreted as a piscivore and a generalist respectively, Orientalosuchus would have been better equipped to deal with hard-shelled prey, such as the plethora of turtles found in the region.