According to bite marks, excrement, and other evidence, a prehistoric animal that resembled a crocodile and was nearly twice as long as an SUV likely ate dinosaurs and sea turtles.
According to the researchers, the enormous reptile Deinosuchus, which could grow to a length of 29 feet (almost 9 metres), undoubtedly decorated Georgia’s coastlines 79 million years ago, much like current crocodiles dot the coasts of the West Nile.
Although not actual crocodiles, the creatures belonged to the crocodilian family and were more closely linked to alligators than crocodiles (alligators and crocodiles are closely related but distinct species).
In any case, the latest discoveries demonstrate how tough the beast was, eliminating dinosaurs of its own size.
David Schwimmer, a palaeontologistat Columbus State University, just finished two studies on the enormous crocodile with one of his students, Samantha Harrell. “We’re convinced (Deinosuchus) ate a lot of sea turtles, but it’s apparent it loved to feed on dinosaurs too,” Schwimmer said.
The researchers examined a variety of dinosaur and sea turtle fossils as well as the crocodilian’s teeth, which were frequently fractured at the points.
According to Schwimmer, the fracture reflects a diet rich in hard foods, such as bone material.
Particularly the rear teeth featured very thick, blunt teeth that were constructed like little hub caps, according to Schwimmer.
Several dinosaur bones, like the leg bone of a tiny carnivorous dinosaur whose remains are kept in a New Jersey museum and the tailbones of duck-billed dinosaurs discovered in the western United States, display the characteristic bite scars.
In Schwimmer’s words to LiveScience, “the [leg] bone was so bitten that it was twisted, and it appeared like a chew toy, like a dog had been working on it.”
“Crocodile bites were all over it.” Turtle shells also have such markings.
Additionally, fossilised faeces were found along the Hannahatchee Creek’s banks in Stewart County, Georgia, a significant tributary of the Chattahoochee River.
Their results on predators and prey were partially supported by poop analysis.
According to Schwimmer, who was referring to the crocodilians, the so-called coprolites were each approximately a half-foot (15 centimetres) long and 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.6 cm) in diameter, or “roughly the size we’d anticipate to come out of one of these creatures.”
Even if the animals were eating dinosaur bones, there was no evidence of bones in the excrement, which is to be anticipated.
Crocodilians’ bones melt due to their powerful digestive acids, he claimed.
Harrell discovered plenty of shell fragments as well as sand inside the coprolites.
The findings suggested that ancient crocodiles lived in shallow, warm water, maybe close to a river mouth where there may have been a large population of sea turtles.
