The Cretaceous Lagoon's Fear
During the late Cretaceous period, a massive Alligator trampled on the dinosaurs of southern America. Discover Deinosuchus, the Cretaceous lagoon monster.
One of nature's most successful lineages of killers thrives in humid waters all over the world: crocodiles. Crocodilians are frequently depicted as living fossils, and their evolution is one of nature's greatest success stories. Crocodiles are members of the Pseudosuchians family, which first appeared in Earth's history alongside their Dinosaurian cousins during the Triassic period. The fossils of early Pseudosuchians are extremely strange and diverse, with members ranging from massive land carnivores known as Rauisuchians to Aetosaurs, herbivorous goliaths with armoured dinosaur-like appearances. These strange ancestors of modern crocodiles were gradually replaced by more advanced species throughout the Mesozoic era. By the end of the Cretaceous period, the first true crocodiles and alligators began to emerge around the world, paving the way for their modern ancestors to take over the world's waterways, inspiring fear in all who dare to step foot in the waters they call home.
Unfortunately, most Pseudosuchians became extinct during the Mesozoic era, leaving only crocodiles, alligators, South American caimans, and the strange (but nearly extinct) gharial. While these ferocious creatures are among the largest predatory animals alive today, crocodiles were once entirely different beasts. Some crocodiles grew so large during the Mesozoic era that they dwarfed even the largest carnivorous dinosaurs in size. One species of North American alligator in particular has gained a mystical reputation over the years for being so massive that it routinely feasted on dinosaurs. This colossal Alligator, aptly named Deinosuchus, did indeed coexist with dinosaurs, but did it actually prey on them? In this article, I'll debate the veracity of Deinosuchus' fame as a dinosaur-eating crocodile, as well as some other fascinating facts about the "terrible crocodile."
The Size of a Giant
How large was Deinosuchus? While this may appear to be a simple question, the true size of Deinosuchus had been a mystery to palaeontologists for nearly a century after its discovery. This is due in large part to the fact that no complete Deinosuchus skeleton has ever been discovered. Instead, known remains mostly consist of teeth, skull and jaw bones, osteoderms (back armour), and a few vertebrae. This scarcity of fossil material may appear to be a problem, but it is sufficient to estimate Deinosuchus' size by comparing fossils to modern relatives.Modern crocodiles and alligators have a simple skull-to-body size ratio, with larger skulls indicating larger individuals. Paleontologist David Schwimmer was able to extrapolate the size of Deinosuchus by using this skull-to-body size ratio. According to his findings, the minimum size of Deinosuchus was around 8 metres long, with the maximum size reaching 12.5 metres long (Schwimmer 2002). Schwimmer also used Deinosuchus and Alligator vertebrae, the latter of which has 1.5 times larger vertebrae, and multiplied the dimensions of large alligators by this figure. His findings once again produced a figure of around 8 metres in length, proving the size of Deinosuchus.
What about your weight? Schwimmer discovered Deinosuchus had a minimum weight of around 4 tonnes and a maximum weight of 8.5 tonnes by comparing the weights of modern Crocodiles and Alligators to their prehistoric cousin. Allow me to put Deinosuchus's size and weight numbers into context. The largest crocodile in captivity was a man-eating saltwater crocodile named "Lolong" from the Philippines. Lolong was 6.15 metres long and weighed more than a tonne when he died. Deinosuchus was over two metres longer and weighed three tonnes more than Lolong. Deinosuchus' maximum size, 8.5 tonnes and 12.5 metres long, is roughly the same as the largest known Tyrannosaurus Rex specimen! With size dimensions like these, it's easy to see how Deinosuchus earned a reputation as a dinosaur killer.
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