Here we describe a new species of the metriorhynchid thalattosuchian Cricosaurus, C. bambergensis sp. nov., from the Upper Jurassic Torleite Formation of Wattendorf near Bamberg, Bavaria (southern Germany). The holotype and only known specimen is a nearly complete skeleton that shows a number of diagnostic traits including a bicarinate dentition formed by labiolingually compressed tooth crowns that lack a conspicuous enamel ornamentation and the presence of a distinct midline ridge with paired depressions on the palatines. Our phylogenetic analysis recovers a grouping of Cricosaurus bambergensis sp. nov. with C. elegans and C. suevicus. The implications of the new Cricosaurus species to the species complex from the late Kimmeridgian–early Tithonian of southern Germany is discussed. Our description of C. bambergensis demonstrates that the specific, and morphological, diversity of Cricosaurus in southern Germany was higher than previously thought. This coincides with the recent trend of re-evaluating the species-complexes of extant taxa, and the identification of new “cryptic species”. As such, the crocodylomorph fossil record will need to be re- examined to ensure there is not an underestimation of their biodiversity.

Key words: Crocodylomorpha, Metriorhynchidae, Cricosaurus, Upper Jurassic, Torleite Formation, Germany.

Sven Sachs [Sachs.Pal@gmail.com], Naturkunde-Museum Bielefeld, Abteilung Geowissenschaften, Adenauerplatz 2, 33602 Bielefeld, Germany; Im Hof 9, 51766 Engelskirchen, Germany (correspondence address). Mark T. Young [mark.young@ed.ac.uk], School of GeoSciences, Grant Institute, University of Edinburgh, James Hutton Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FE, UK. Pascal Abel [pascal.abel@ifg.uni-tuebingen.de], Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Eberhard- Karls Universität Tübingen, Sigwartstraße 10, 72076 Tübingen, Germany. Heinrich Mallison [mallison@palaeo3d.com], Palaeo3D, Talstr. 14, 86554 Pöttmes, Germany.