A new study on crocodylian Deinosuchus has explained the bite marks on dinosaur fossil bones. Paleontologists have long speculated that massive beasts preyed on dinosaurs. The new study led by paleontologists from the University of Tennessee and the University of Iowa in the United Sates, found that crocodylian Deinosuchus had the head size and crushing jaw strength to do just that. The findings have been recently announced in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Until now, no complete fossil of crocodylian Deinosuchus was found. But the studies conducted on newly discovered samples revealed that Deinosuchus, ranging in up to 33 feet in length, has been known to be one of the largest predators in its ecosystem, outweighing even the largest predatory dinosaurs living alongside them between 75 and 82 million years ago.
The samples also uncovered other characteristics of this animal including teeth the size of bananas that enabled it to take down the very largest of dinosaurs. In a report published on the website of Taylor & Francis Group, publisher of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Co-author Stephanie Drumheller-Horton, a paleontologist at the University of Tennessee, said: "Deinosuchus seems to have been an opportunistic predator, and given that it was so enormous, almost everything in its habitat was on the menu. We actually have multiple examples of bite marks left on turtle shells and dinosaur bones."
In spite of the animal was described as a crocodile, it had an enormous skull, and a long, broad and inflated nose in a way not seen in any other crocodylian, living or extinct. The reason for its enlarged nose is unknown, said co-author Adam Cossette from the University of Iowa.
"It had two large holes at the tip of the snout in front of the nose. These holes are unique to Deinosuchus and we do not know what they were for, further research down the line will hopefully help us unpick this mystery and we can learn further about this incredible creature," Cossette explained
"It was a strange animal. 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," he added. Deinosuchus disappeared before the main mass extinction at the end of the age of dinosaurs. The reason for its extinction remains unknown. From here, we need more studies to further understand Deinosuchus, he concluded.
