Baryphracta 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 diplocynodontid crocodilia

Crocodilia

Crocodilia is an order of large reptiles that appeared about 84 million years ago in the late Cretaceous Period . They are the closest living relatives of birds, as the two groups are the only known survivors of the Archosauria...

n. It is closely related to the genera Diplocynodon

Diplocynodon

Diplocynodon is an extinct genus of alligatoroid that lived during the Paleocene to middle Miocene 49 million years ago in Europe. It looked very similar to the modern caiman in that it was small and had bony armour scutes covering its neck, back, belly, and tail...

and Tadzhikosuchus

Tadzhikosuchus

Tadzhikosuchus is an extinct genus of crocodylomorph that may have been a crocodylid eusuchian. To date it is mostly known from partial dentaries that show it to have been very similar to Diplocynodon, if not the same genus...

. Fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

s have been found from the Messel Pit

Messel pit

The Messel Pit is a disused quarry near the village of Messel, about southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bituminous shale was mined there. Because of its abundance of fossils, it has significant geological and scientific importance...

 near Messel

Messel

Messel is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in Hesse near Frankfurt am Main in Germany.The village is first mentioned, as Masilla, in the Lorsch codex.Messel was the property of the lords of Groschlag from ca. 1400 to 1799...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, which was deposited during the Middle Eocene

Eocene

The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

 epoch of the Paleogene

Paleogene

The Paleogene is a geologic period and system that began 65.5 ± 0.3 and ended 23.03 ± 0.05 million years ago and comprises the first part of the Cenozoic Era...

 period. It was not the only crocodilian found from the pit; others include the closely related Diplocynodon as well as crocodylids such as Asiatosuchus

Asiatosuchus

Asiatosuchus is an extinct genus of large crocodilian. It is believed to have been a basal crocodile. Specimens have been found from Russia, Belgium, France, Germany, Mongolia, and possibly Pakistan. It existed from the Danian stage of the early Paleocene epoch to the Lutetian stage of the Eocene...

and Allognathosuchus

Allognathosuchus

Allognathosuchus is an extinct genus of alligatorine crocodylian with a complicated taxonomic history. This small alligatorine is known for its stout jaws and bulbous teeth, found near the rear of the tooth row in upper and lower jaws. These adaptations have historically been interpreted as...

. In 1999, the genus was proposed to be synonymous

Synonym (taxonomy)

In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...

with Diplocynodon.