The original publication on the Pliocene Otibanda Formation in Papua New Guinea briefly
reported on crocodyliform fossils, including isolated teeth that were tentatively
assigned to the notosuchian subclade Sebecosuchia. In this study, we reassess the
crocodyliform material from the Otibanda Formation and provide the first detailed
descriptions of the same, including the purported sebecosuchian teeth. Direct examination
of these teeth confirms their ziphodont condition based on the labiolingual compression
of the crowns and the presence of serrated mesial and distal carinae. In addition
to the ziphodont teeth, there are also non-serrate conical teeth that are tentatively
referred to an undetermined species of Crocodylus as well as fragmentary postcranial
elements that we refer to as Crocodylia incertae sedis. Considering the geological
age and geographical origin of the isolated ziphodont tooth crowns from Papua New
Guinea, they are unlikely to belong to a sebecosuchian crocodyliform. Instead, it
is more plausible that they are referable to Mekosuchinae, a highly diverse crocodylian
clade inclusive of ziphodont forms that was prevalent on mainland Australia for most
of the Cenozoic.
