You’ll go bananas when you hear the size of the teeth of this ancient crocodile.
A new study on Deinosuchus fossils published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology reveals that Deinosuchus, a specimen from the enormous crocodylian, had teeth “the size of bananas.”
Deinosuchus, which translates to “terrible crocodile” or “terror crocodile”, lived between 75 million and 82 million years ago and used to be the largest predator in its ecosystem. They were so big that they even outweighed other predatory dinosaurs and were able to eat anything in its habitat.
According to Dr. Adam Cossette, a vertebrate paleontologist at the New York Institute of Technology and the lead author of the study, bite marks on dinosaur fossil bones helped speculate the predatory behavior of these ancient crocodiles.
The study also reveals three kinds of “terror crocodiles”, – the Deinosuchus hatcheri and Deinosuchus riograndensis, that lived in the west of America, ranging from Montana to northern Mexico and the Deinosuchus schwimmeri, that lived along the Atlantic coastal plain from New Jersey to Mississippi.
The researcher further confirm that these terror crocodiles did have the head size and jaw strength to prey on several dinosaurs. They could range up to 33 feet in length.
“Until now, the complete animal was unknown. These new specimens we’ve examined reveal a bizarre, monstrous predator with teeth the size of bananas,” says Dr. Cossette.
Despite being called crocodiles, research says that they are more closely related to alligators. However, its enormous skull does not resemble neither an alligator nor a crocodile.
The study did find that the Deinosuchus had a unique feature -it has two large holes at the tip of its snout. The function of the two holes, however, is still unknown.
Professor Christopher Brochu, a paleontologist from the University of Iowa and a co-author of the paper, describes the specie as a “very strange animal” because according to him, “it shows that crocodylians are not ‘living fossils’ that haven’t changed since the age of dinosaurs. They’ve evolved just as dynamically as any other group.”
Deinosuchus species are said to have already disappeared before the main mass extinction at the end of the age of dinosaurs (Mesozoic period). The reason for their extinction is still unknown.
Now, aren’t you glad that our crocodiles today don’t have banana sized teeth?
POP! Creator Community / Christian Segui
