On the cranial structure of a new protosuchid (Archosauria: Crocodyliformes) from the McCoy Brook Formation (lower Jurassic) of Nova Scotia, Canada

Well-preserved skull bones referable to a new protosuchid, Protosuchus micmac, are common in the lower portion of the McCoy Brook Formation (Lower Jurassic: Hettangian) of Nova Scotia, Canada. P. micmac is closely related to P. richardsoni (Brown, 1933) from the Moenave Formation (Lower Jurassic) of Arizona and to P. haughtoni (Busbey et Cow, 2984) from the upper Stormberg Group (Lower Jurassic) of southern Africa. It differs from the latter taxa in several craniodental features, most notably in the presence of two large caniniform teeth in the dentary. The geographic range of protosuchid crocodyliforms provides further confirmation of a cosmopolitan distribution of many groups of terrestrial tetrapods during the Early Jurassic.