Kalthifrons

Kalthifrons Temporal range: Pliocene, 3.9 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauria
Order:	Crocodilia
Clade:	†Mekosuchinae
Genus:	†Kalthifrons Yates and Pledge, 2017
Type species
†Kalthifrons aurivellensis Yates and Pledge, 2017

Kalthifrons is an extinct monospecific genus of mekosuchine crocodylian known from the Pliocene Tirari Formation of Australia. More specifically, Kalthifrons was recovered from the Mampuwordu Sand Member, which underlies the younger sediments of the Pompapillina Member. This is significant, as the latter preserves some of the earliest records of the genus Crocodylus in Australia, which would eventually go on to replace mekosuchines. It is currently unclear whether or not the Tirari Crocodylus directly outcompeted Kalthifrons or simply moved into the region after the niche was left empty by the extinction of the local mekosuchines. Should the later be the case, then Kalthifrons may have simply been the victim of global cooling and aridification. A point in favour of the competition hypothesis is that both Kalthifrons and the Tirari Crocodylus have broadly similar skull forms, with both being interpreted as generalist semi-aquatic predators much like many of today's crocodiles. Though far from large, Kalthifrons was nonetheless bigger than many other mekosuchines such as Trilophosuchus and Mekosuchus. The genus is monotypic, meaning it contains only a single species, Kalthifrons aurivellensis.