"Crocodylus" affinis is an extinct species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of crocodyloid from the 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...

 of Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

. Fossils were first described from the Bridger Formation by American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh

Othniel Charles Marsh

Othniel Charles Marsh was an American paleontologist. Marsh was one of the preeminent scientists in the field; the discovery or description of dozens of news species and theories on the origins of birds are among his legacies.Born into a modest family, Marsh was able to afford higher education...

 in 1871. Marsh described the species, along with every other species of crocodyloid in the Bridger Formation, under the genus Crocodylus

Crocodylus

Crocodylus is one of three genera from the Crocodylinae subfamily extending from the Crocodylidae family.Established species include three extinct species:* † Crocodylus acer - probably represents a distinct genus....

. Recent phylogenetic studies of crocodyloids show that "C." affinis is not a species of Crocodylus, but a genus has not yet been erected to include the species. Other Bridger species such as Crocodylus clavis and Brachyuranochampsa

Brachyuranochampsa

Brachyuranochampsa is an extinct crocodilian closely related to, but not within, Crocodylidae.Although reported from as old as the late Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, the only robust occurrence of Brachyuranochampsa is B. eversolei from Wyoming . Another species, B...

zangerli have been synonymized with "C." affinis.