Classic “Old School” Deinosuchus on Display at the Las Vegas Natural History Museum
Jawsome!
Y’all have probably heard of #Deinosuchus, the “terrible crocodile” (or as I knew it growing up, #Phobosuchus “fear crocodile”).
Named by Holland in 1909, he included these fun quotes in the paper, “Deinosuchus hatcheri was undoubtedly one of the hugest representatives of the Crocodilia which has existed upon our globe.” Named from quite fragmentary material that he guessed was “...a length of from thirty-five to forty feet...”, making this #alligatoroid among the largest of all the crocodilians.
How big? Now that is the question! No complete specimen has been discovered, in fact, though known from 10 States (or more!) on both sides of the Western Interior Seaway, the material has always been fragmentary. Teeth here, [huge] skull parts there, vertebral material elsewhere, and osteoderms everywhere, just not all together.
Deinosuchus was easily 30’ long, possibly almost 40’! And though 5 tons is likely, a big one may have reached 10+ tons. Talk about a 4-legged #Tyrannosaurus with a bit more powerful chomp.
It lived in rivers and lakes in the Late #Cretaceous (80-75 mya) on either side of the Western Interior Seaway.
Like crocs today, it ate what it wanted. Anything coming to take a drink near where one was lurking was at risk of death, even my beloved #sauropods! How so? If it grabbed a giant #Alamosaurus by the skull it was game over for even such a massive beast.
We see crocs grab elephants by the trunk today, but #elephants can charge forward and oft have friends that can help. A #sauropod grabbed by the skull won’t have the same charge ahead luxury despite their bulk.
Phobosuchus is such a great name, but for a variety of reasons, it has been sunk. You can, however, read of the #Phobosuchus I grew up with here: https://bit.ly/2WMaUk9
You will find Colbert refers to a Brazilian #Dinosuchus. That is not a typo. Giant crocs dubbed Dinosuchus were known from Brazil in 1876. That name, too, has been sunk, leaving #Purussaurus as the name for the giant Brazilian critters.
This is the classic “old school” #Deinosuchus, on display at the Las Vegas Natural History Museum. I like how it is elevated, giving eye-level chills to adults.
#FossilCrates