read image desc if you dare | "UM ACTUALLY, SUCHOMIMUS (GREEK FOR "CROCODILE MIMIC") IS A GENUS OF LARGE SPINOSAURID THAT LIVED 112 MILLION YEARS AGO, DURING THE LATE APTIAN STAGE OF THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD IN NIGER, AFRICA. SHARING TRAITS WITH ITS MORE LARGER, RELATIVE SPINOSAURUS AEGYPTIACUS, SUCHOMIMUS WAS ONE OF THE DOMINANT THEROPODS OF ITS TIME AND ENVIRONMENT.
UNLIKE MOST LARGE THEROPODS, SUCHOMIMUS HAD A VERY LONG, LOW SNOUT AND NARROW JAWS STUDDED WITH SOME 100 OR MORE TEETH, WHICH WERE VERY SHARP AND CURVING SLIGHTLY BACKWARD; SIMILAR TO STRUCTURE OF FISHING HOOKS. THE TIP OF THE SNOUT WAS ENLARGED AND CARRIED A "ROSETTE" OF LONGER AND SHARPER TEETH.
THE ANIMAL'S HEAD AND MOUTH ANATOMY IS REMINISCENT OF SLIM SNOUTED CROCODILIANS, SUCH AS THE AUSTRALIAN FRESH WATER CROCODILE, AFRICAN SLENDER SNOUTED CROCODILE, AMERICAN CROCODILE, ORINOCO CROCODILE, AND BOTH GHARIAL & FALSE GHARIAL, TYPES OF LARGE CROCODILES WITH A VERY LONG, SLIM SNOUT, FROM THE REGIONS OF ASIA, OCEANIA AND SOUTH AMERICA, THAT THEY PRESUMED TO HAVE SIMILAR HABITAT AND ECOLOGICAL NICHE. ALTHOUGH IT IS WELL KNOWN THAT THE SPINOSAURIDS HAD RATHER GENERALISTIC/CARNIVORE BEHAVIOR; AND MOST LIKELY THE SUCHOMIMUS ECOLOGICAL NICHE WASN'T AS SPECIFIC NOR SPECIALIZED AS THE GHARIAL AND SIMILAR SLIM SNOUTED CROCODILIANS.
SUCHOMIMUS ALSO HAD A MEDIUM SIZED EXTENSION OF ITS DORSAL VERTEBRAE WHICH MAY HAVE HELD UP SOME KIND OF LOW RIDGE OR SAIL OF SKIN, AS SEEN IN MUCH MORE SPLENDID FORM IN SPINOSAURUS. DETAILED STUDY SHOWS THAT THE HOLOTYPE OF SUCHOMIMUS WAS ABOUT 10.9-12 METERS IN LENGTH AND WEIGHING BETWEEN 3-4 TONNES. SERENO STATED THAT SUCHOMIMUS COULD'VE GROWN LARGER BY SOME FEET THAN THE HOLOTYPE. IN FACT THE DESCRIPTION PAPER OF SUCHOMIMUS NEVER MENTIONED THAT THE HOLOTYPE WAS IMMATURE. THE OVERALL IMPRESSION IS OF A MASSIVE AND POWERFUL CREATURE THAT ATE VERY LARGE FISH & SIMILAR WATER-BASED PREY ITEMS; SUCH AS MEDIUM-TO LARGE SIZED CROCODILIANS; ALSO ALL OTHER SORTS OF MEAT (LARGER PTEROSAURS TO SMALL-MEDIUM SIZED DINOSAURS WHEN AVAILABLE) MORE THAN 100 MILLION YEARS AGO, WHEN THE SAHARA WAS A LUSH, SWAMPY HABITAT FULL OF LIFE UNLIKE THE BARREN DESERT OF TODAY." | image tagged in gifs | made w/ Imgflip video-to-gif maker
