Fossil crocodiles are common in proto-Orange River deposits of Lower and Middle Miocene age. They are also known from the Middle Miocene of the Koa River Valley at Bosluis Pan, Namaqualand, South Africa. The skull of the species is similar in many respects to the extinct species Crocodylus lloydi, known !Tom Early and Middle Miocene deposits of North Africa, and the Plio-Pleistocene of East Africa, but its mandible and neurocranium are closer to those of the extant species Crocodylus niloticus. It is possible that the Arrisdrift species rather than C. lloydi, gave rise to the Nile crocodile. These records extend the geographic range of crocodiles in Africa considerably to the south of their present day distribution limits. The presence of crocodiles in southern Namibia and South Africa suggests that this part of the continent was tropical to subtropical during the Early and basal Middle Miocene, in strong contrast to its temperate nature today.