Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni
(Thorbjarnarson’s crocodile)
Name:
Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni
(Thorbjarnarson’s crocodile).
Phonetic: Kroc-oh-dil-us for-b-yar-nar-son-e.
Named By: Christopher A. Brochu & Glenn
W. Storrs - 2012.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Crocodylomorpha, Crocodylia, Crocodylidae, Crocodylinae,
Crocodylus.
Species: C. thorbjarnarsoni.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Estimated between 7.5 to 8 meters
long.
Known locations: Kenya, Turkana Basin - Koobi
Fora Formation & Nachukui Formation.
Time period: Zanclean of the Pliocene through to
Early Gelasian of the Pleistocene.
Fossil representation: Several skulls as well as
lower jaws.
For
lack of a better term Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni
was big, bigger than
today’s largest crocodiles including Crocodylus niloticus
(Nile
crocodile) and even Crocodylus porosus (salt
water crocodile).
Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni is also considered to be
slightly bigger
than Crocodylus
anthropophagus, a species named
two years earlier
that is considered to possibly be closely related to C.
thorbjarnarsoni. C. thorbjarnarsoni
shared a similar nasal
arrangement with C. anthrophagous in that the
nasals faced slightly
forward. C. thorbjarnarsoni also had ridges
along the squamosal
bones at the back of the skull that were similar to but different from
the crests of C. anthrophagous. C.
thorbjarnarsoni is also noted
for having a broad snout.
Because
of its large size, C. thorbjarnarsoni was
undoubtedly an apex
predator of its ecosystem that probably preying upon the large
mammalian fauna of the time, hunting behaviour that is analogous to
the present day C. niloticus. However early
hominids (the
ancestors of people today) are also known from the same locations as
C. thorbjarnarsoni, something that has led to
grisly speculation
that some hominids may have fallen victim to C.
thorbjarnarsoni.
Although direct evidence for this is currently lacking, the smaller
C. niloticus is known to attack and eat modern
humans that are much
larger than their hominid ancestors. Additionally the related C.
anthropophagus is regarded as the culprit for the tooth
marks found on
hominid fossils near where it was found. You also need to consider
that crocodiles can digest bones as well as flesh by increasing the
production of stomach acids, so it’s a realistic expectation that
once a large crocodile like C. thorbjarnarsoni
had finished fully
digesting its meal, there would be nothing left for a palaeontologist
to find a few million years later.
Although
C. thorbjarnarsoni is regarded as quite possibly
being the largest
species in the Crocodylus genus, it was not the
largest crocodile.
Back in the Cretaceous another African genus of crocodile called
Sarcosuchus
is estimated to have been eleven and twelve meters long,
while another called Stomatosuchus
is estimated to have been up ten
meters long. Both of these genera likely paled in comparison to an
even bigger crocodile from the Miocene of South America called
Purussaurus
which is estimated between eleven and thirteen meters long.
Crocodylus
thorbjarnarsoni translates to English as Thorbjarnarson’s
crocodile.
This in honour of John Bjorn Thorbjarnarson, a conservationist
particularly noted for his work with crocodiles.
| Name | Time/Location | Size (meters) |
| Deinosuchus (alligator-like crocodile). | Cretaceous/USA. | 10-12 |
| Gryposuchus (gharial-like crocodile). | Miocene/S. America. | 10 |
| Mourasuchus (alligator-like crocodile). | Miocene/Peru. | 12 |
| Purussaurus (caiman-like crocodile). | Miocene/S. America. | 11-13 |
| Rhamphosuchus (gharial-like crocodile). | Miocene/India. | 8-11 |
| Sarcosuchus (crocodile). | Cretaceous/Africa. | 11-12 |
| Smilosuchus (phytosaur *not a croc). | Triassic/USA. | 12 |
| Stomatosuchus (crocodile). | Cretaceous/Egypt. | 10 |
| 3 of todays largest living crocs below | ||
| Alligator mississippiensis (American alligator). | Present/S. E. USA. | 3.4 average - up to almost 6. |
| Crocodylus niloticus (Nile crocodile). | Present/Africa. | Average up to 5, largest up to 6.45. |
| Crocodylus porosus (Salt water crocodile). | Present/India, S. E. Asia, N. Australia. | Average 4-5.5, largest recorded 6-6.6, possibly slightly bigger. |
Further reading
A giant crocodile from the Plio-Pleistocene of Kenya, the phylogenetic
relationships of Neogene African crocodylines, and the antiquity of
Crocodylus in Africa. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (3):
587. - C. A. Brochu & G. W. Storrs - 2012.
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