Deinosuchus rugosus
Deinosuchus is an extinct genus of eusuchian, either an alligatoroid crocodilian or a stem-group crocodilian, which lived during the Late Cretaceous around 82 to 73 million years ago. The first remains were discovered in North Carolina in the 1850s, and the genus was first described in 1909. Additional fragments were discovered in the 1940s and were later incorporated into an influential, though inaccurate, skull reconstruction at the American Museum of Natural History. Knowledge of Deinosuchus remains incomplete, but better cranial and postcranial material found in recent years has expanded scientific understanding of this massive predator.
Although Deinosuchus was far larger than any modern crocodile or alligator, with the largest surpassing 9 meters (30 ft) in total length, its overall appearance was fairly similar to its smaller relatives, but with a proportionally longer skull than modern crocodilians. It had large, robust teeth built for crushing, and its back was covered with thick hemispherical osteoderms. One study indicated Deinosuchus may have lived for up to 50 years, growing at a rate similar to that of modern crocodilians, but maintaining this growth over a much longer time.
From the article Deinosuchus on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
Despite its large size, the overall appearance of Deinosuchus was not considerably different from that of modern crocodilians. Deinosuchus had an alligator-like, broad snout, with a slightly bulbous tip. Each premaxilla contained teeth, with the pair nearest to the tip of the snout being significantly smaller than the other two. Each maxilla (the main tooth-bearing bone in the upper jaw) contained 23 teeth. The tooth count for each dentary (tooth-bearing bone in the lower jaw) was at least 22. All the teeth were very thick and robust; those close to the rear of the jaws were short, rounded, and blunt. They appear to have been adapted for crushing, rather than piercing. When the mouth was closed, only the fourth tooth of the lower jaw would have been visible. The skull of Deinosuchus itself was of a unique shape not seen in any other living or extinct crocodilians; the skull was broad, but inflated at the front around the nares. Two holes in the premaxilla in front of the nares are present in this genus and are unique autapomorphies not seen in other crocodilians, but nothing is known at present regarding their function. Modern saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) have the strongest recorded bite of any living animal, with a maximum force of 16,414 N (1,673.8 kgf; 3,690 lbf) for a 4.59 meters (15.1 ft), 531 kilograms (1,171 lb) specimen. …
Wikipedia: “Morphology”
What it does
In 1954, Edwin H. Colbert and Roland T. Bird speculated that Deinosuchus "may very well have hunted and devoured some of the dinosaurs with which it was contemporaneous". Colbert restated this hypothesis more confidently in 1961: "Certainly this crocodile must have been a predator of dinosaurs; otherwise why would it have been so overwhelmingly gigantic? It hunted in the water where the giant theropods could not go." David R. Schwimmer proposed in 2002 that several hadrosaurid tail vertebrae found near Big Bend National Park show evidence of Deinosuchus tooth marks, strengthening the hypothesis that Deinosuchus fed on dinosaurs in at least some instances. In 2003, Christopher A. Brochu agreed that Deinosuchus "probably dined on ornithopods from time to time." Deinosuchus is generally thought to have employed hunting tactics similar to those of modern crocodilians, ambushing dinosaurs and other terrestrial animals at the water's edge and then submerging them until they drowned. A 2014 study suggested that it would have been able to perform a "death roll", like modern crocodiles. A 2010 review by Schwimmer noted NJSM 13096, a tyrannosauroid (either an immature Appalachiosaurus or a Dryptosaurus) leg bone in the collection of the New Jersey State Museum recovered from the Ellisdale Fossil Site had bite marks on it.
Schwimmer and G. …
Wikipedia: “Diet”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Deinosuchus rugosus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 543794.