Simoedosaurus

Simoedosaurus Temporal range: Paleocene- Eocene
Fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Choristodera
Family:	Simoedosauridae
Genus:	Simoedosaurus Gervais, 1877
Species
S. dakotensis S. lemoinei S. peroni S. remensis S. suessonniensis

Simoedosaurus is an extinct reptile known from the Paleocene of North America and Europe, and a member of the Choristodera, a group of semiaquatic reptiles that lived in the Northern Hemisphere from the Jurassic to the early Cenozoic. It resembles the better-known Champsosaurus in having long, slender jaws lined with conical teeth. The elongate jaws resemble those of fish-eating crocodilians such as gharials, and suggest a similar diet and mode of life. The earliest records of Simoedosaurus are from the Early Paleocene (Puercan Land Mammal Age) of Saskatchewan. It persisted until the Late Palaecene in North America, and has also been found in the Late Paleocene of France. Simoedosaurus is not closely related to the North American Champsosaurus, instead it appears to be most closely related to Tchoiria and Ikechosaurus from the Cretaceous of Asia. It therefore may represent a species that immigrated into North America from Asia in the wake of the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction event.