Baurusuchus
Name:
Baurusuchus.
Phonetic: Bow-ru-soo-kus.
Named By: L. I. Price - 1945.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Crocodylomorpha, Notosuchia, Sebecosuchia, Baurusuchidae,
Baurusuchinae.
Species: B. pachechoi
(type), B. albertoi?, B. salgadoensis.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Between 3.5 and 4 meters long.
Known locations: Brazil - Adamantina Formation.
Time period: Turonian - Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Skull and partial post
cranial remains of a few individuals.
Baurusuchus
is a genus of terrestrial crocodile
that lived in South America during
the late Cretaceous. The genus is noted for having a strong
similarity to the genus Cynodontosuchus,
though Baurusuchus was
notably bigger and with stronger and more robust teeth. There has
been past speculation that Baurusuchus may be a
synonym to
Cynodontosuchus, though Cynodontosuchus
is noted as having a
shallower rostrum (snout) and fewer maxillary teeth than
Baurusuchus.
Baurusuchus
was almost certainly a terrestrial crocodile based upon simple
observation of features of the skull. For comparison, a crocodile
that hunts in the water will usually have its nostrils and eye sockets
on the top of the snout so that it can see and breathe while swimming
and hunting in the water. The teeth are usually conical to provide a
greater amount of grip on a wet sand slippery body so that a crocodile
can drag its victim into the water and drown it. The eyes and teeth
of Baurusuchus however are clearly on the sides of
the skull, meaning
that Baurusuchus was not spending time looking up
out of the water. A
strong bony ridge above the eye also would have reduced the ability of
Baurusuchus to see above the eye, but may have
acted as a sun shade
to keep glare out of it. The teeth of Baurusuchus
are also laterally
compressed so that they could easily slice through the flesh of prey
animals. These features would all work best for a terrestrial (on
dry land) hunting style.
Baurusuchus
is the type genus of its own group of crocodiles called the
Baurusuchidae. Other genera included in this group include
Cynodontosuchus, Pabwehshi,
Pissarrachampsa,
Wargosuchus
and
Stratiotosuchus.
Further reading
- A new reptile from the Cretaceous of Brazil. - Ministério da
Agricultura, Departamento Nacional da Produção Mineral, Divisão de
Geologia e Mineralogie, Notas Preliminares e Estudos 25:1-9. -
L. I. Price - 1945.
- Baurusuchus salgadoensis, a new
Crocodylomorpha from the Bauru
Basin (Cretaceous), Brazil. - Gondwana Research (Japan:
International Association for Gondwana Research) 8 (1):
11–30. - Ismar de Souza Carvalho, Antonio de Celso Arruda
Campos & Pedro Henrique Nobre - 2005.
- A new species of Baurusuchus
(Crocodyliformes,
Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Brazil, with the
first complete postcranial skeleton described from the family
Baurusuchidae. - Papeis Avulsos de Zoologia 50 (21):
323-361. - Paulo Miranda Nascimento & Hussam Zaher -
2010.
- A New Baurusuchid (Crocodyliformes, Mesoeucrocodylia) from
the Late Cretaceous of Brazil and the Phylogeny of Baurusuchidae. -
PLoS ONE 6 (7): 1–26. - Felipe C. Montefeltro, Hans
C. E. Larsson, Max C. Lange - 2011.
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