Crocodiles are known to be the scariest cold-blooded carnivores on Earth today, but in the history of our planet there have been many far more terrifying species of giant crocodiles, one of them. species Sarcosuchus.
After World War II ended, French paleontologist Albert-Félix de Lapparent led a team of archaeologists and paleontologists to conduct expeditions in the Sahara Desert. During the exploration and excavation at the Kem Kem Beds stratigraphy, the team found a lot of fossils of a very large crocodile, located near Olev, near present-day Algeria.
Later, in southern Morocco, new fossils were also discovered, including skulls, teeth, vertebrae and claws. In 1957, H. Faure discovered several isolated tooth fossils in the Elrhaz Formation in northern Nigeria, but these teeth were much larger than those found by Albert-Félix de Lapparent see.
Ice Cream Beds.
Albert-Félix de Lapparent (left side) and research team.
Some fossils of giant teeth of the crocodile Sarcosuchus.
Realistic image of the Ice Cream Beds stratigraphy.
Through the study of giant crocodile fossils from North Africa, French paleontologist De Broin has shown that this was a crocodile with an elongated mouth, like the Indian dried fish today. .
The team of the French Council of Atomic Energy (CEA) then discovered an almost complete skull fossil of this species in northern Nigeria in 1964, and the skull was sent to Paris for analysis. study.
After carefully studying and analyzing the fossils that have been found, paleontologists De Broin and Phillipe Taquet named this giant crocodile Sarcosuchus. The name is taken from Greek, with “Sarco” meaning muscle and “suchus” meaning crocodile.
The discovery of a giant crocodile like Sarcosuchus in North Africa should have been an event that shocked biologists worldwide, but unfortunately, at the time, researchers in France did not. unpublished, fearing that their existence would not be known to the world for many years afterward.
Paul Sereno (red shirt on the left) – professor of paleontology at the University of Chicago and a national geographic “resident explorer” who has discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. locations, including at locations in Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco and Nigeria.
From 1997 to 2000, Paul Sereno, a paleontologist from the United States, led an expedition to Nigeria again. They believe that this expedition will uncover a large number of paleontological fossils. After arduous excavations in the deserts of the Sahara Desert, the expedition team discovered a fossil population weighing 20 tons in total, including 7 Sarcosuchus crocodiles.
Seven Sarcosuchus crocodiles were found covering different stages from development to adulthood, including complete fossil specimens of this species.
After returning to the United States, Paul Sereno immediately held a press conference to introduce his discovery. He also partnered with National Geographic to introduce this giant prehistoric crocodile to the world. Soon after, National Geographic and Paul Sereno teamed up to restore a model of Sarcosuchus to a 1:1 scale so that everyone could see and visualize the crocodile’s actual size. How massive is this.
Sarcosuchus is a prehistoric super crocodile, after analyzing and simulating the ratio of skull to body according to the ratio of Indian crocodiles and saltwater crocodiles, the researchers found that with chemical samples The skull jelly of the largest individual found (1.6 meters long) would have a body length of up to 11.65 meters and a weight of about 8 tons.
Compare the size of Sarcosuchus with that of an adult.
With such a huge size, it takes a long time for the crocodile Sarcosuchus to grow to a body length of more than 11 meters, which also means that this species has a very long life. According to the study of the skeleton of this crocodile, when they are 40 years old, their body length is only 80% when compared to an adult, it is estimated that Sarcosuchus actually reached its maximum size and matured. when they reach 50 to 60 years old.
Comparison of human skull size with that of Sarcosuchus.
Compare the skull size of Sarcosuchus with other prehistoric crocodiles.
Indian crocodile or Ganga river crocodile, scientific name Gavialis gangeticus. It is one of three species of crocodile native to mainland India along with the swamp crocodile and the estuarine crocodile. It is one of the longest living crocodiles. The average adult is 3.5-4.5 meters long.
Sarcosuchus was a huge and formidable predator, they had a large head and a relatively slender snout that made up 75% of the total length of the skull, their skull shape was relatively similar to that of a crocodile. India today. There is a protrusion (called Bulla) on the front end of the snout of the crocodile Sarcosuchus. This protrusion has the ability to improve the sense of smell. The nose and eyes of this giant crocodile are located on the top of the head, which prevents them from having to fully float on the surface of the water to see and breathe.
The most fearsome weapon of the Sarcosuchus species is the “super huge” mouth with sharp teeth (there are 70 teeth in the upper jaw and 62 teeth in the lower jaw). Their teeth are very thick and conical, which can provide them with powerful jabs, easily piercing the flesh of their prey.
The most fearsome weapon of the Sarcosuchus species is the “super huge” mouth with sharp teeth.
The lower jaw of the species Sarcosuchus.
Like today’s crocodiles, Sarcosuchus crocodiles also had Osteoderm bones (scale bones) on their large bodies, this Osteoderm layer plays a protective role in the body. Through simulation and analysis, the researchers found that the body of this worm fish had a wider ring structure than modern crocodiles, which means that their ability to move on land was also better when compared to modern crocodiles.
Complete skeleton of Sarcosuchus.
Sarcosuchus is an extinct genus of Crocodylomorpha and a distant relative of crocodiles, which lived 112 million years ago. It lived during the early Cretaceous period in what is now Africa and South America and was one of the largest crocodilian reptiles from existence.
The Sahara at that time was very different from today. According to stratigraphic information, the Sahara desert of this period had a very humid climate, with large rivers and lakes above ground.
