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Here we report on a complete skull of a new fossil <jats:italic>Crocodylus<\/jats:italic> from the Late Pleistocene of the Middle Atbara River, eastern Sudan. Cranial morphology resembles Plio-Pleistocene species of <jats:italic>Crocodylus<\/jats:italic> from Africa in having upturned squamosals, though not as prominently developed as in these species, whereas the skull differs from fossil and extant <jats:italic>Crocodylus<\/jats:italic> in having a vaulted sagittal boss on the dorsal surface of the rostrum, and in the absence of a supraoccipital exposure on the dorsal skull table. Phylogenetic analyses indicate the Atbara <jats:italic>Crocodylus<\/jats:italic> represents a separate species and is more closely related to the fossil African crocodiles than the extant forms. The new species represents the first fossil <jats:italic>Crocodylus<\/jats:italic> to be described from the Late Pleistocene of Africa, providing new information on the occurrences and diversification of the genus <jats:italic>Crocodylus<\/jats:italic> during the Late Pleistocene.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-025-08980-6","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,1]],"date-time":"2025-08-01T09:03:00Z","timestamp":1754038980000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["A new late Pleistocene fossil crocodile from Sudan reveals hidden diversity of Crocodylus in Africa"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Khalafallah","family":"Salih","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Johannes","family":"M\u00fcller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ali","family":"Eisawi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Faysal","family":"Bibi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"8980_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"11127","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-020-68482-5","volume":"10","author":"M Delfino","year":"2020","unstructured":"Delfino, M. et al. Old African fossils provide new evidence for the origin of the American crocodiles. Sci. Rep. 10, 11127. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41598-020-68482-5 (2020).","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"8980_CR2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"505","DOI":"10.1038\/s42003-021-02017-0","volume":"4","author":"E Hekkala","year":"2021","unstructured":"Hekkala, E. et al. Paleogenomics illuminates the evolutionary history of the extinct Holocene \u201chorned\u201d crocodile of Madagascar Voay robustus. Commun. Biol. 4, 505. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s42003-021-02017-0 (2021).","journal-title":"Commun Biol"},{"key":"8980_CR3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4199","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-294X.2011.05245.x","volume":"20","author":"E Hekkala","year":"2011","unstructured":"Hekkala, E. et al. An ancient icon reveals new mysteries: Mummy DNA resurrects a cryptic species within the Nile crocodile. Mol. 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