Description
- Crocodile Tooth
- Species: Sarcosuchus sp.
- Age: Cretaceous, 112 Million Years Old
- Source: South of Taouz, Morocco
- Size: Approx 30-40mm
- Quality will vary, one supplied, not exact one pictured.
Crocodiles are one of the most ancient lineages on Earth, first appearing around 235 million years ago, they were the only survivors of the Triassic-Jurassic Extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs. Commonly referred to as the ‘Supercroc’, Sarcosuchus (name meaning “flesh crocodile”} was a genus of crocodylomorph which lived approximately 112 million years ago; during the Early to Middle Cretaceous period across Africa and South America. Sarcosuchus belongs to a family of Crocodylomorpha called Pholidosauridae, a group quite closely related to some modern day crocodilians.
Sarcosuchus was a very large crocodilian, measuring about 12 metres (40 feet) in length and weighed a maximum of 8 tonnes. Its huge size and incredibly powerful jaws, make Sarcosuchus a formidable predator, likely preying on a variety of large animals, including dinosaurs and large fish. The shape of the bones of Sarcosuchus are similar to that of the False Gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii), especially young animals which have a narrower snout that widens as they grow. This widening is likely to enable them to take down larger and larger prey. Like the gharials, Sarcosuchus appeared to possess an expansion at the end of its snout called a bulla. However, in gharials this is only present in the males whereas so far all Sarcosuchus skeletons found possess a bulla, suggesting that they were not a part of sexual dimorphism.
Sarcosuchus fossils have been found primarily in Niger, with some specimens discovered in Morocco. These teeth were found South of the town of Taouz in Morocco in an area of sedimentary deposits known as the Kem Kem Beds. Many fossils have been found in this area, predominantly of fish as well as Pterosaurs, dinosaurs and crocodilians. Due to the habitat and abundance of fish fossils it is believed many of the animals in this area were mostly piscivorous (fish-feeders) and hunted in the estuarine and coastal areas.
