Theriosuchus is an extinct genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of atoposaurid

Atoposauridae

Atoposauridae is a family of crocodile-like archosaurs. Members of the family have been found from France, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Germany, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Cameroon, and Thailand.-Phylogeny:...

 mesoeucrocodylia

Mesoeucrocodylia

Mesoeucrocodylia is the name of the clade that includes Eusuchia and the paraphyletic group Mesosuchia. The group appeared during the Early Jurassic, and continues to the present day....

n from the Late Jurassic

Late Jurassic

The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 161.2 ± 4.0 to 145.5 ± 4.0 million years ago , which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata. In European lithostratigraphy, the name "Malm" indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age...

 of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, the Early Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

 of Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 and the Late Cretaceous

Late Cretaceous

The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...

 of Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. The five species are T. pusillus from England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 (Owen, 1879), T. ibericus from Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 (Brinkmann, 1992), T. guimarotae from Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 (Schwarz & Salisbury, 2005), T. sympiestodon from Romania (Jeremy E. Martin, Márton Rabi & Zoltán Csiki, 2010) and T. grandinaris from Berriasian

Berriasian

In the geological timescale, the Berriasian is an age or stage of the Early or Lower Creteceous. It is the oldest or lowest subdivision in the entire Cretaceous. It spanned between 145.5 ± 4.0 Ma and 140.2 ± 3.0 Ma...

-Barremian

Barremian

The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale between 130.0 ± 1.5 Ma and 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous epoch...

 of Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 (Lauprasert et al., 2011).

Theriosuchus was a common terrestrial mesoeucrocodylian in Europe during the Cretaceous. Fossils belonging to the genus are abundant at several European sites. It was one of the few basal mesoeucrocodylians to exist in Laurasia during the Late Cretaceous, a time when many basal forms such as notosuchia

Notosuchia

Notosuchia is a suborder of primarily Gondwanan mesoeucrocodylian crocodylomorphs that lived during the Cretaceous. Fossils have been found from South America, Africa, and Asia...

ns and araripesuchids

Araripesuchus

Araripesuchus is a genus of extinct crocodyliform whose species existed during the Cretaceous period of the late Mesozoic era some 125 to 65 million years ago. They are generally considered to be notosuchians , characterized by their varied teeth types and distinct skull elements...

 were present in Gondwana

Gondwana

In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...

. Some other basal mesoeucrocodylians present in Europe at this time were Doratodon

Doratodon

Doratodon is an extinct genus of crocodylomorph that was once believed to be a dinosaur.- Species :The type species is D. carcharidens from the Late Cretaceous of Austria, whilst the second known species is D. ibericus from the Late Cretaceous of Spain.-References:*Company, J., Suberbiola, X.P.,...

and Ischyrochampsa

Ischyrochampsa

Ischyrochampsa is an extinct genus of Late Cretaceous mesoeucrocodylian. Fossils of the type species I. meridionalis are late Campanian in age and were found in the commune of Saint-Estève-Janson in Bouches-du-Rhône, France. Material is also known from Spain. At an estimated length of over ,...

.

There is a 58-million-year gap in the fossil record of the genus that spans between the last occurrence of Early Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

 species and the appearance of the Late Cretaceous T. sympiestodon. Described in 2010, T. sympiestodon was found in the Haţeg Basin

Hateg

Hațeg is a town in Hunedoara County, Romania with a population of 12,507. Three villages are administered by the town: Nălațvad, Silvașu de Jos and Silvașu de Sus.Țara Hațegului is the region around Hațeg town...

 of Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. During the Late Cretaceous, this area was part of Haţeg Island

Hateg Island

Hațeg Island was a large offshore island in the Tethys Sea during the Cretaceous period. It was situated in an area corresponding to the region around modern-day Hațeg, Romania...

, which was part of an archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

 that spanned the Tethys Ocean

Tethys Ocean

The Tethys Ocean was an ocean that existed between the continents of Gondwana and Laurasia during the Mesozoic era before the opening of the Indian Ocean.-Modern theory:...

.