The biggest freshwater croc ever, known as the Sarcosuchus imperator, grew as long as 40 feet (12 meters) and weighed up to eight metric tons. “This is the largest freshwater crocodile ever to have lived on Earth,” said study co-author Dr. David Evans, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in California.
Table of Contents
What’s the biggest crocodile that ever lived?
The saltwater crocodile named lolong was 20 feet three inches long and weighed 2,350 pounds. The world’s largest crocodile is believed to be 100 years old and is named Cassius. Crocodiles are not the only animals that can grow to enormous sizes. In fact, some of the largest animals on the planet, such as elephants and rhinos, have been known to grow up to 100 feet in length.
How big were crocodiles 93 million years ago?
England and the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum collaborated on the discovery of the fossil in 2010. The crocodile was about 6 to 7 feet in length and weighed about 200 pounds. “This is the largest crocodilian ever found in Australia, and it is one of only a handful of crocodilians that have ever been discovered in this part of Australia,” said lead author Dr. David Evans, a research associate in the Department of Earth Sciences at UNE.
“Crocodiles are known to inhabit Australia and New Guinea, but this discovery is unique in that it represents the first time that a crocodyliform has been found on the mainland of mainland Australia.
How big were crocodiles in the Jurassic period?
It had a long snout and had somewhat telescoped eyes. It was the largest living crocodile in the world at the time it was discovered, and was thought to be the ancestor of all modern crocodilians, including alligators, caimans and alligator-like reptiles.
Did crocodiles used to be giants?
Gigantism in crocodiles has been reported several times in the fossil record. The oldest fossil evidence of giant crocodiles in North America is that of Deinosuchus, which is about the size of a modern-day crocodile. Giant crocodylomorphs have also been found in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. The largest known crocodilian is the Crocodile Hunter, which was about 2.5 meters (8 feet) long and weighed about 1,000 kilograms (2,500 pounds). .
How big were snakes in prehistoric times?
As long as a school bus, the prehistoric snake was. Some 60 million years ago, well after the demise of the dinosaurs, a giant relative of today’s boa constrictors, weighing more than a ton and measuring 42 feet long, hunted crocodiles and other large prey. “It was the largest snake in the world,” said study co-author David Evans, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
“It had a very long neck, and it would have been able to wrap itself around a crocodile’s head and choke it to death.” The snake, which lived in what is now South Africa, was about the size of a small dog, Evans said. The snake’s body was covered in scales, with a thick, leathery skin covering its back and sides.
