Araripesuchus is a genus of extinct crocodyliform that existed during the Cretaceous period of the late Mesozoic era some 125 to 66 million years ago.

[1][2] Araripesuchus is generally considered to be a notosuchian (belonging to the clade Mesoeucrocodylia), characterized by the varied teeth types and distinct skull elements.

A. gomesii, A. wegeneri and A. tsangatsangana all have a mild concavity of the external alveolar margin of the premaxilla as viewed from the ventral surface; A. rattoides may also have this feature, although this part of its skull is not known, as the dentary suggests that this would be the case.

A. rattoides also had the distinctive feature of a highly enlarged and forward-pointing first dentary tooth referred to as an incisiform, resembling the elongated incisors found in rodents (hence the specific epithet).

The osteoderms were not strongly keeled, which, along with the long limb bones and shoulder, hip and ankle joints that suggest upright posture, indicate that Araripesuchus was probably more active on land than on water.

[4] The name of the genus was coined in 1959 with the description of the type species Araripesuchus gomesii, a notosuchian crocodylian from the famed Santana Group of the Araripe Basin in Brazil.

The type specimen for the species, GDF-700 consisting of a few, fragmentary jaw elements, reside at the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris.

[1] The holotype's fragmentary nature meant that its placement in the genus was disputed until more remains were found in 2009 by Sereno and Larsson; these, along with the specimens of A. tsangatsangana, confirmed its place.

[8] Below is a cladogram from the analysis: Uruguaysuchus A. wegeneri A. buitreraensis A. gomesii A. patagonicus Libycosuchus Simosuchus Malawisuchus Candidodon Chimaerasuchus Sphagesaurus Baurusuchus Bretesuchus Iberosuchus Notosuchus Comahuesuchus Mariliasuchus However, recent phylogenetic analyses placed A. wegeneri as a sister taxon of Anatosuchus, questioning the monophyly of the genus.

[11] Araripesuchus remains have been recovered from the continents of South America and Africa suggesting a Gondwanan origin for the evolution of the genus.