Giant Crocodylians Ruled South America’s Ancient Food Chain
3 Articles
3 Articles
This Giant Crocodile Relative Weighed as Much as a Car And Preyed on Rhino-Sized Mammals
Crocodiles are among today's most feared predators, but their ancient relatives make today's crocs seem as threatening as a cuddle-prone kitty with a cold. It took a while, though: Since crocodyliforms arose more than 200 million years ago, they've gone through stages of non-threatening vegetarianism and even a literal cat-like form. Eventually, evolution yielded some absolutely bonkers varieties that ruled their ecosystems with a scaly fist. …
Purussaurus the giant crocodile of the Miocene: thirteen million years ago the South of America was an authentic aquatic hell dominated by colossal reptiles that devoured everything in its path. Among the giant sloths and the beasts of a ton, the carnivorous mammals were few. There was so much food on the shore that the true kings of the banquet had scales and were underwater. Fossil evidence reveals the absolute dominance at the top of the Puru…
Giant Crocodylians Ruled South America’s Ancient Food Chain
Fossil bite marks suggest giant crocodylians, especially Purussaurus neivensis, dominated large prey hunting in Miocene South America. More than 10 million years ago, a vast lake spread across much of South America, surrounded by an extraordinary collection of predators and prey. Giant turtles and crocodylians occupied its waters, while anacondas, saber-toothed mammals, flightless “terror birds,” [...]
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