Post by dinosauria101 on Aug 11, 2019 20:13:04 GMT 5
Purussaurus brasiliensis
Purussaurus is an extinct genus of giant caiman that lived in South America during the Miocene epoch, 8 million years ago. It is known from skull material found in the Brazilian, Colombian and Peruvian Amazonia, and northern Venezuela. The skull length of the largest known individual of the type species, P. brasiliensis is 1,453 millimetres (57.2 in). It has been estimated that P. brasiliensis reached about 10.3 metres (34 ft) in length, weighing about 5.16 metric tons (5.69 short tons). Another estimate gave a larger size of 12.5 metres (41 ft) in length and 8.4 metric tons (9.3 short tons) in weight, with a mean daily food intake of 40.6 kilograms (90 lb). Bite force has been estimated to be around 69,000 N (around 7 metric tons-force).. Two other extinct crocodilians, Sarcosuchus and Deinosuchus, have similar proportions, but both are geologically much older, dating from the Early and Late Cretaceous, respectively, and another from the Miocene of India, Rhamphosuchus, is estimated to be slightly smaller, though assumed to have been proportioned like a gharial. During the summer of 2005, a Franco-Peruvian expedition (the Fitzcarrald expedition) found new fossils of Purussaurus in the Peruvian Amazon (600 km from Lima).
Rhamphosuchus crassidens
Rhamphosuchus ("Beak crocodile") is an extinct relative of the modern false gharial. It inhabited what is now the Indian sub-continent in the Miocene. It is only known from incomplete sets of fossils, mostly teeth and skulls. Traditionally, many palaeontologists estimated that it was one of the largest, if not the largest crocodylian that ever lived, reaching an estimated length of 15 to 18 m (49 to 59 ft). However, a more recent study suggests that the animal may have been 8–11 m in length, and therefore is not the largest known crocodylian.[2] Another crocodylian, Purussaurus, from the Miocene of Peru and Brazil, is known from an equally incomplete fossil set. It is estimated to have been similar in length to the initial estimates at approximately 12 m. However, this would mean that it would have been somewhat larger in size if the more recent size estimates for Rhamphosuchus are correct. If the most recent estimate is correct, then several other extinct crocodylians also surpassed Rhamphosuchus in length, such as the Late Cretaceous alligatoroid Deinosuchus, the Early Cretaceous pholidosaurid Sarcosuchus, the Miocene gavialid Gryposuchus and the strange planktivorous Mourasuchus (a contemporary of Purussaurus), at 12 m, 11–12 m, 10.15 m, and 12 m, respectively. Rhamphosuchus probably had a more generalized predatory diet than the piscivory of other tomistomines.
Credit to Wikipedia
Purussaurus is an extinct genus of giant caiman that lived in South America during the Miocene epoch, 8 million years ago. It is known from skull material found in the Brazilian, Colombian and Peruvian Amazonia, and northern Venezuela. The skull length of the largest known individual of the type species, P. brasiliensis is 1,453 millimetres (57.2 in). It has been estimated that P. brasiliensis reached about 10.3 metres (34 ft) in length, weighing about 5.16 metric tons (5.69 short tons). Another estimate gave a larger size of 12.5 metres (41 ft) in length and 8.4 metric tons (9.3 short tons) in weight, with a mean daily food intake of 40.6 kilograms (90 lb). Bite force has been estimated to be around 69,000 N (around 7 metric tons-force).. Two other extinct crocodilians, Sarcosuchus and Deinosuchus, have similar proportions, but both are geologically much older, dating from the Early and Late Cretaceous, respectively, and another from the Miocene of India, Rhamphosuchus, is estimated to be slightly smaller, though assumed to have been proportioned like a gharial. During the summer of 2005, a Franco-Peruvian expedition (the Fitzcarrald expedition) found new fossils of Purussaurus in the Peruvian Amazon (600 km from Lima).
Rhamphosuchus crassidens
Rhamphosuchus ("Beak crocodile") is an extinct relative of the modern false gharial. It inhabited what is now the Indian sub-continent in the Miocene. It is only known from incomplete sets of fossils, mostly teeth and skulls. Traditionally, many palaeontologists estimated that it was one of the largest, if not the largest crocodylian that ever lived, reaching an estimated length of 15 to 18 m (49 to 59 ft). However, a more recent study suggests that the animal may have been 8–11 m in length, and therefore is not the largest known crocodylian.[2] Another crocodylian, Purussaurus, from the Miocene of Peru and Brazil, is known from an equally incomplete fossil set. It is estimated to have been similar in length to the initial estimates at approximately 12 m. However, this would mean that it would have been somewhat larger in size if the more recent size estimates for Rhamphosuchus are correct. If the most recent estimate is correct, then several other extinct crocodylians also surpassed Rhamphosuchus in length, such as the Late Cretaceous alligatoroid Deinosuchus, the Early Cretaceous pholidosaurid Sarcosuchus, the Miocene gavialid Gryposuchus and the strange planktivorous Mourasuchus (a contemporary of Purussaurus), at 12 m, 11–12 m, 10.15 m, and 12 m, respectively. Rhamphosuchus probably had a more generalized predatory diet than the piscivory of other tomistomines.
Credit to Wikipedia