SuperCroc (Sarcosuchus imperator which means flesh crocodile emperor) was 40 feet long, as big as a city bus, its head alone as long as a grown man, with 132 teeth waiting to tear apart its prey. This giant crocodile was one of the largest ever to walk the earth, twice as long as any living crocodile on record, and ten times as heavy.
Weighing in at 17,000 pounds, SuperCroc may have found walking to be rather difficult, so he probably spent most of his time in the water. Despite his size, SuperCroc was quite a graceful swimmer, using his enormous tail to propel himself through the water. Scientists think SuperCroc probably lived to be 50 to 60 years old.
SuperCroc lived among the dinosaurs in Sub-Saharan Africa 110 million years ago, in the middle Cretaceous era. SuperCroc was certainly large enough to take on a dinosaur, and his hook-like teeth were strong cylinders perfect for grabbing a dinosaur, making them likely dinosaur predators.
SuperCroc's Body Armor
Though probably not hunted by any predators themselves, SuperCrocs nevertheless were covered with body armor, made up of about 70 rectangular armor plates on the back that were covered with skin. Besides protecting SuperCroc, little depressions on these scutes, as they are called, were filled with the crocodile's blood and used to adjust his body temperature, just as they do in today's crocodiles. When crocodiles sun themselves, their backs, and the blood therein, heat up. The warmed blood is then circulated throughout the body, warming up the whole crocodile.
SuperCroc Fossils
Fossilized armor plates and teeth of SuperCrocs were first unearthed in Africa's Sahara in the 1940s and 1950s by Alfred Felix de Lapparent, a French paleontologist. On a four-month long expedition in 2000, led by Paul Sereno to the same Sahara graveyard, Gadoufaous in Niger, newer SuperCroc bones were discovered, including vertebrae, leg bones, jaws, armor plates, and an almost complete six-foot skull.
While most dinosaur skulls disintegrate quickly, SuperCroc's six-foot skull was made from strong bones that were filled with teeth. As SuperCrocs matured, their teeth fused together to form an almost solid block of bone. The skull and other remains unearthed at Gadpoufaous were so huge that the fossil hunters decided to call the animal they came from SuperCroc.
Now scientists are teaming up to study modern crocodilians, which includes crocodiles, alligators, gavials and caimans. By comparing the modern crocodiles to the 110-million-year-old fossils they've gathered, these scientists hope to learn more about the mysterious and powerful SuperCroc.
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Pennie Packard - Pennie Packard is a wife, mother, grandmother, virtual assistant, and freelance writer. During her more than four years as a writer of ...
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