Antaeusuchus
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| Antaeusuchus Temporal range: Cenomanian, | |
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| Known material of Antaeusuchus taouzensis | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Clade: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Clade: | †Notosuchia |
| Family: | †Peirosauridae |
| Genus: | †Antaeusuchus Nicholl et al., 2021 |
| Type species | |
| †Antaeusuchus taouzensis Nicholl et al., 2021 | |
Antaeusuchus taouzensis is a species of peirosaurid notosuchian from the Late Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of Morocco. It was described in 2021, and it is the only species in the genus Antaeusuchus.[1] It is the fourth notosuchian described from the region and the second Kem Kem peirosaurid after Hamadasuchus. A 2023 study proposes that Antaeusuchus may not be distinct enough to warrant its own genus and that it instead represents another species of Hamadasuchus.
Antaeusuchus is known from two specimens: the holotype NHMUK PV R36829, consisting of paired mandibles, and the paratype NHMUK PV R36874, a partial right mandible. Both specimens were commercially collected and recovered from unspecified beds of the Kem Kem Group near Jebel Beg'aa, Taouz township in the Errachidia Province of Morocco. Both fossils are preserved without distortion and in good condition, with damage mostly restricted to the teeth.[1] While the two were originally described as representing a distinct genus of peirosaurid, a later publication by Pochat-Cottilloux et al. suggests that although distinct on a species level, the material is not unique enough to be placed in its own genus. They suggest that Antaeusuchus could simply represent an additional species of Hamadasuchus, while further proposing that the paratype specimen is more similar to the already established Hamadasuchus species.[2]
The generic name derives from Antaeus, a giant from Greek and Berber mythology said to be buried in northern Morocco and the Ancient Greek σοῦχος, soukhos meaning crocodile. The species name refers to the township Taouz where both specimens had been found.[1]
