DEINOSUCHUS
Perhaps the most infamous of the ancient crocodiles is the mighty Sarcosuchus, but a fearsome competitor for that title is Deinosuchus, literally meaning “terror crocodile”.
This almighty reptile lived 80 million years ago, stood 12 metres long, weighing nine tonnes and on the coastlines of North America it put even the Tyrannosaurids in their place. Deinosuchus is very similar anatomically wise to modern crocodiles, bearing in mind that crocodylomorphs have barely changed since their first appearance in the fossil record, showing that they are immensely well adapted
to lurking under the waters surface just waiting for a meal to get a little too close…
When Deinosuchus saw an opportunity for a kill, he would lurch forward, clamping down his jaws on an unsuspecting beast and pull it down into the depths of the water. This archaic crocodile had a bone crushing bite of a whopping 18,000N, and some scientists argue this monstrous jaw would’ve snapped down on prey with a force larger than a tyrannosaurus. It is certainly possible that Deinosuchus preyed on dinosaurs, several hadrosaur tails have been found with indentations on the bones matching that of a Deinosuchus tooth, while is has also been suggested that Deinosuchus teeth were ideal for crushing turtle shells. It was later discovered that Deinosuchus coprolites did indeed contain fragments of turtle shell, whatever the reality, these teeth were certainly a formidable weapon.
Remains of Deinosuchus have been found all across America, in 1858, two large teeth were found and identified as a species of giant crocodilian. Many more bones and fragments would be found over the coming decades, until in 1909 when Deinosuchus was given its official name. Deinosuchus remains somewhat of a mystery still in palaeontologists eyes, it disappeared from the fossil record about 72 million years ago.
