Partial skull Crocodylomorph identification

[Sfwoop]

Hello!  I am very new to the forum but I have used it previously (by reading existing discussions) in order to help me learn about and identify a few other fossils. Recently I was able to purchase a crocodile skull from a person who looked to be an antique seller. They had a few other fossils listed as well, which lead me to believe they may of gotten their hands on an older collection. The partial skull arrived today, it is the top half judging by the structure and the fact that you can see the start of the orbitals. It has teeth, but they are either broken or at least for one tooth at the very tip, seem to have been just growing in. It seems to be stabilized in a weird red plaster that I have never seen before, if anyone has any information on what it is, or if this is even a correct way to stabilize said fossil please let me know. A big chunk of the upper jaw appears to have been filled in with it and a thin layer of it or some other stabilizer was used to cover most of the surface area of the rest of the fossil which seems to be why it might be giving off the red coloration. I'm confident that this is a real fossil/skull despite it's preservation method. The seller sent me a few plaques as well, one of them with a bit of information that came along with it. I'll be including pictures below of both sides. One of them mentions the kemkem beds but also the Tegana Formation which I cannot really find any information on. I'm having a lot if difficulties trying to figure out what crocodylomorph this skull might of belonged to. I have narrowed it down to maybe the Elosuchus because of the rounded orbitals as well as how narrowish the jaw appears to be, but I am not sure and would like some help from people with more experience with identification. I'm relatively new to fossil collecting, this is actually the biggest fossil I currently own, and any help is very appreciated. Thank you for your time! I can provide more pictures or close ups of areas if requested. 

[Ludwigia]

@DD1991 ?

[Troodon]

First the Tegana Formation does not exist, never did and sellers continue to use it after it was misused on a technical paper.  This material comes from the Kem Kem Group which is consists of several Formations located the Kem Kem region of Morocco.

Its possible thats its Elosuchus here is an illustration from the holotype.

 

The preparation is very poor and its quite odd to see broken teeth in a croc jaw from this region, most all are toothless.  Hard to say what you have given the prep.  Some composite material may have been used.  Cleanup of the prep depends on what they did.  You can try acetone and see if it softens the resto.

[DPS Ammonite]

1 hour ago, Troodon said:

Tegana Formation

Ibrahim, N., Sereno, P.C., Varricchio, D.J., Martill, D.M., Dutheil, D.B., Unwin, D.M., Baidder, L., Larsson, H.C.E., Zouhri, S., Kaoukaya, A. (2020). Geology and paleontology of the Upper Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of eastern Morocco. ZooKeys.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7188693/

 

“Some geographic names are simple errors that gain traction in secondary citations. In a prominent compilation of dinosaur localities, for example, the term “Tegana Formation” was cited for the “Kem Kem beds” (Weishampel et al. 1990). This may have arisen as a misspelling of the “Tegama Group”, a name for Cretaceous age beds in Niger. Although the error was noted (Sereno et al. 1996), it has reappeared in subsequent publications (e.g., Bailey 1997, Kellner and Mader 1997, Taverne and Masey 1999, Weishampel et al. 2004).”

[DD1991]

On 9/28/2021 at 1:41 AM, Ludwigia said:

@DD1991 ?

The Tegama Group occurs only in Niger, and the Kem Kem Beds are divided into two units, the Douira Formation and Gara Sbaa Formation. The the jaws of the specimen are too narrow for Araripesuchus or Laganosuchus, so could be Elosuchus. Two Elosuchus species are known, E. cherifiensis and E. broinae, and material assigned to Elosuchus sp. indet. might be a distinct Elosuchus species despite being similar to E. cherifiensis (Meunier and Larsson 2016). Fortignathus is about the same age as Elosuchus and also has narrowed jaws, so the specimen could also be Fortignathus.

 

Louise M. V. Meunier; Hans C. E. Larsson (2016). Revision and phylogenetic affinities of Elosuchus (Crocodyliformes). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 179 (1): 169–200. doi:10.1111/zoj.12448.

 

Mark T. Young; Alexander K. Hastings; Ronan Allain; Thomas J. Smith (2016). Revision of the enigmatic crocodyliform Elosuchus felixi de Lapparent de Broin, 2002 from the Lower–Upper Cretaceous boundary of Niger: potential evidence for an early origin of the clade Dyrosauridae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society  Online edition. doi:10.1111/zoj.12452.

Edited October 1, 2021 by DD1991
Specimen could also be Fortignathus as that taxon also has lower jaws