Purussaurus
Name:
Purussaurus (Purus lizard - after the Purus River)
Phonetic: Puh-roo-sore-us.
Named By: Barbosa Rodrigues - 1892.
Synonyms: Dinosuchus neivensis.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Crocodylomorpha, Crocodylia, Alligatoridae, Caimaninae.
Species: P. brasiliensis (type),
P. neivensis, P. mirandai.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Skull up to 1.4 meters long. Body length
estimated between 11 and 13 meters.
Known locations: South America, particularly
Amazonia.
Time period: Tortonian of the Miocene.
Fossil representation: Several specimens, usually
of skull material.
At
between eleven and thirteen meters long it goes without saying that
Purussaurus was an apex predator capable of
attacking large prey. As
a caiman crocodile, Purussaurus had an extremely
stout and robust
skull that housed large conical teeth suited for gripping and holding
onto powerful prey.
Purussaurus
is one of the growing number of contenders for the epithet of largest
crocodile. Other crocs to obtain giant sizes include Sarcosuchus,
Deinosuchus,
Rhamphosuchus,
as well as Gryposuchus
and
Mourasuchus,
which are known from similar times and locations as
Purussaurus.
| 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. | 9-9.5 |
| 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 new fossil crocodilian from Colombia. - Proceedings of the United
States National Museum 91(3122):55-61. - C. C. Mook - 1941.
- A new giant Purussaurus (Crocodyliformes,
Alligatoridae) from the
Upper Miocene Urumaco Formation, Venezuela. - Journal of Systematic
Palaeontology 4(3):221-232. - O. A. Aguilera, D. Riff & J.
Bocquentin-Villanueva - 2006.
- Size and Palaeoecology of Giant Miocene South American Crocodiles
(Archosauria: Crocodylia). - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27
(3). - Jorge Moreno-Bernal - 2007.
- Neogene crocodile and turtle fauna in northern South America. -
Amazonia: Landscape and Species Evolution: A look into the past
259-280. - D. Riff, P. S. Romano, G. R. Oliveira & O. A.
Aguilera - 2010.
- The 'death roll' of giant fossil crocodyliforms (Crocodylomorpha:
Neosuchia): Allometric and skull strength analysis. - Historical
Biology. 27 (5): 514–524. - R. E. Blanco, W. W. Jones & J. N.
Villamil - 2014.
- Morphometry, Bite-Force, and Paleobiology of the Late Miocene Caiman
Purussaurus brasiliensis. - PLOS ONE. 10 (2):
e0117944. - Tito
Aureliano, Aline M. Ghilardi, Edson Guilherme, Jonas P. Souza-Filho,
Mauro Cavalcanti & Douglas Riff - 2015.
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