Dinosuchus
Name:
Dinosuchus.
Phonetic: Dy-no-su-kus.
Named By: P. Gervais - 1876.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Crocodylomorpha, Alligatoroidea, Alligatoridae.
Species: D. terror (type).
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: Unknown due to lack of remains.
Known locations: Brazil.
Time period: Pliocene.
Fossil representation: Vertebra.
Dinosuchus
is a problematic genus of crocodile
as currently the only fossil
attributed to the genus is a vertebra. A second species was once
named as D. neivensis upon the basis of a partial
mandible, but
this fossil was moved to Brachygnathosuchus
before finally being
referred to the giant Purussaurus.
Very
special care should be taken not to confuse Dinosuchus
with the giant
North American crocodile Deinosuchus,
not only because they are both
alligatoroid crocodiles, but because both of their names can be
translated to English to mean ‘terrible crocodile’.
Further reading
- Crocodile gigantesque fossile au Brésil. - Journal de Zoologie
5: 232–236. - P. Gervais - 1876.
- Brachygnathosuchus braziliensis, a new fossil
crocodilian from
Brazil. - Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 44
(6): 43–49. - C. C. Mook - 1921.
- Über die Namen einiger brasilianischer fossiler Krokodile.
Centralblatt für Mineralogie, Geologie und Palaeontologie 12:
378. - F. Nopsca - 1924.
- Fossil Crocodilians from Colombia and the Cenozoic history of the
Crocodilia in South America. - University of California
Publications in Geological Sciences 52: 1–157. - W.
Langston - 1965.
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