Barinasuchus fossil map
Where fossils of Barinasuchus have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 15 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 15 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Crocodile relatives |
|---|---|
| Lived | 42–11 million years ago (Lutetian to Tortonian) |
| Periods | Paleogene, Neogene |
| Family | Sebecidae |
| Named by | Paolillo and Linares 2007 |
| Fossil records | 3 occurrences at 3 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Argentina, Venezuela, Peru |
| Rock formations | Divisadero Largo, Parángula, Ipururo |
About Barinasuchus
Barinasuchus (meaning "Barinas crocodile", in reference to where the type material was found) is an extinct genus of sebecid mesoeucrocodylian. It lived in Argentina, Peru, and Venezuela between the middle Eocene and the Late Miocene, ~42–11.6 Ma. Described in 2007, based on a severely damaged specimen from which only a snout tip was recovered, Barinasuchus is known from a single species, B. arveloi, named after Alberto Arvelo Torrealba, a local educator and poet.
The type specimen of Barinasuchus, discovered by road workers in Venezuela in 1973, originally consisted of a substantial portion of the skeleton, though much of it was accidentally destroyed when they attempted to excavate it, leaving only a partial snout and mandible (lower jaw). The specimen comes from the Miocene-age Parángula Formation, and was described in 2007 by Alfredo Paolillo and Omar J. Linares. A second specimen of Barinasuchus was recovered from the Miocene Ipururo Formation of Peru, and was described in 1977 by Éric Buffetaut and Robert Hoffstetter, though was originally assigned to Sebecus huilensis (now Langstonia). Another was recovered from the Eocene-age Divisadero Largo Formation of Argentina in 1984 by Zulma Brandoni de Gasparini.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Barinasuchus (revision 1378632369), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q3281318.
