Sarcosuchus

Intro

Sarcosuchus or "flesh crocodile" was among the largest crocodylimorph (a group containing modern crocodilians and their ancient relatives like Deinosuchus) ever. The bite force of this massive croc was estimated at around 18,000 psi. Its teeth were adapted for grabbing and holding, so the massive beast likely snatched its prey from the shore, then simply used its superior strength to hold it there until it drowned. It lived during the beginning of the Cretaceous period in Africa, the same continent where the huge theropod species Spinosaurus once roamed.

• The skull of Sarcosuchus
• Sarcosuchus attacking its prey
• A life size restoration of Sarcosuchus. And one extremely brave little kid.

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Fact File

Length: 11-12.2 meters

Weight: 8-10 tonnes

Diet: Carnivorous

Diet

While some crocodylimorphs consisted on fish or even plants, it is obvious that Sarcosuchus was a big game hunter. It's skull was 2 meters long, the size of an adult human. This deadly maw contained 132 railroad spike shaped teeth, and as mentioned before could exert a tremendous bite force. What does this mean? If Sarcosuchus was alive today it could likely swallow you or I in one bite, but more importantly, that it ate large dinosaurs. Some speculate that it could have perhaps even taken down small sauropods.

Popular Culture

The Sarcosuchus lunges at Nigel

Sarcosuchus featured in the first episode of the Chased By Dinosaurs, "Land of Giants". In this episode, Nigel Marvin filmed its devastating bite power by inserting a branch into its mouth, which it promptly snapped. A Sarcosuchus also ambushes Nigel at the end of the episode, and he only just escapes.

Featured Article - October 2010

This article was so well written that it was featured on the Main Page in October 2010.