Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Eothoracosaurus
is an extinct genus of gavialoid crocodilian. It was one of the earliest
and most basal gavialoids known. Fossils are present from the Ripley
Formation in Mississippi, and date back to the early Maastrichtian stage
of the Late Cretaceous. Some fragmentary material from the Coon Creek
Formation of western Tennessee dating back to the late Campanian
(slightly older than the specimens from Mississippi) has been referred
to Eothoracosaurus as well. The Coon Creek Formation seems to have been
deposited in a marine setting, with oceanic fauna such as the sharks
Otodus and Squalicorax, the sea turtle Toxochelys, and mosasaurs
including Plioplatecarpus and Globidens present from these strata. This
suggests that Eothoracosaurus may also have led a marine lifestyle.
Certain aspects of the cranial morphology of known specimens, such as a
long anterior frontal process and widely spaced supratemporal fenestrae,
distinguish it from the closely related Thoracosaurus neocesariensis
from the late Maastrichtian and early Paleocene of New Jersey.