The Crocodilian behind the…
uh … Crocodilian
This is a brief description of Sarcosuchus imperator.
Read it to find out why it was such a super croc!
By Elena
Photo © PAST |
Sarcosuchus imperator was perhaps
the biggest crocodilian of alltime. It was about 40 ft. in
length - that's about as long as a school bus! Except, you
wouldn't want to ride it to school. Its skull alone was six
feet long - longer than an average grown up.
It had one hundred and thirty-two (132)
large, round, thick teeth in its head, the better to eat large
animals, like dinosaurs with. "How do the teeth show
it ate dinosaurs," you ask, "and not just fish?"
Fish eaters usually have thin teeth. Also, Sarcosuchus'
teeth articulate (this means "close together") in
a special way. Fish eaters' teeth close together like a cage,
each tooth fitting into a groove of another tooth, with no
large spaces in between. But Sarcosuchus' teeth don't
do that.
Photo © PAST |
Instead, its top jaw closes over its
bottom jaw, giving it an overbite. Humans have a slight over
bite too! Close your mouth and touch the front of your teeth.
Your top row of teeth comes out just
a little farther than your bottom row. So, Super Croc's tooth
shape and articulation give us a good idea of what it could
eat - dinosaurs! Not to mention that its size is a dead give
away.
It is more likely that something forty-feet
long could consume large animals.
Another amazing feature of Sarcosuchus
imperator is that it had a huge nasal cavity (nose opening)
at the end of its skull that was shaped like a toilet bowl.
Why? The better to smell you with! Big nasal openings allow
animals' nostrils to be far apart from each other instead
of side by side, like ours. Believe it or not, the farther
apart your nostrils are, the better you can smell. And an
increased sense of smell makes it easier for predators like
Sarcosuchus to sense potential prey. Bloodhounds, eat
your heart out!
Photo © PAST |
Besides enhancing smelling ability,
such a big nasal cavity could improve Super Croc's ability
to communicate (talk) with other Super Croc. Crocodilians
"talk" through roars, grunts, hisses, and other
noises like that. Having a larger nose opening would make
this easier.
We can also tell from looking at its
skeleton that Super Croc had some big, strong muscles, especially
in its jaws. For example, at the top of its skull, there are
a couple of holes called "supratemporal fenestrae."
The size and shape of these holes tell us how big Super Croc's
muscles for opening andclosing its jaws were. What these openings
tell us? Sarcosuchus imperator had a strong bite that
you wouldn't want to experience for yourself.
Illustration © Paul Sereno
& Carol Abraczinskas |
Finally, one last feature of Sarcosuchus
imperator's skeleton shows us it was a mean, green, eating
machine -its eye sockets. Said eye sockets were located on
the very top of its head. This means that its eyes were the
highest point on its body.
Why's this so cool? Because it means
Sarcosuchus could stick its eyes out of the water,
but leave its body totally hidden underwater. It could sneak
up to prey walking a little to close to the water's edge.
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So what have you learned about Super
Croc?
Put yourself to the test and take The
SuperCroc Quiz.
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For the story of this Sarcosuchus'
skull
and information on fossil
preparation, CLICK
HERE
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