Plesiosuchus was a 20 foot long marine crocodylomorph which lived in the tropical sea which once covered Europe during the late Jurassic Period 155-150 million years ago. In the 1860s, fragmentary fossils were discovered in Dorset, England by a local… Read More ›
Protosuchus richardsoni was a 3 foot long primitive crocodylomorph which lived in North America during the early Jurassic Period 200-195 million years ago. Fossils of it have been found within the upper part of the Moenave Formation in northern Arizona…. Read More ›
Cricosaurus was a genus of 5-10 foot long marine crocodylomorphs which swam in the shallow seas around Mexico, Argentina, and Germany from the late Jurassic Period to the early Cretaceous Period, approximately 152-132 million years ago. Cricosarus belonged to a… Read More ›
There were numerous kinds of marine reptiles which swam in the oceans during the Mesozoic Era, including the ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs. Less well known are the marine crocodilians, or more accurately, crocodylomorphs. These animals are known as the thalattosuchians,… Read More ›
Dinosaurs ruled the land during the Mesozoic Era, but crocodiles and their relatives unquestionably ruled the water. Prehistoric crocodiles are usually relegated to the background as supporting actors or extras in our imagined Mesozoic dramas, but the truth is that… Read More ›
The Cedar Mountain Formation of eastern Utah contains rock layers dated to the early and middle Cretaceous Period, approximately 144-95 million years ago. Most of the fossils found here belong to medium-sized and large-sized dinosaurs, while fossils belonging to smaller… Read More ›
Gracilisuchus, meaning “the slender crocodile”, was a 2-foot-long reptile which lived in South America during the middle of the Triassic Period. Its remains were discovered in northwestern Argentina within the rocks of the Chañares Formation, which are dated to about… Read More ›
The Morrison Formation of western North America is my favorite geological / paleontological formation to study. Within these rock layers, which are dated to the late Jurassic Period from approximately 155 to 145 million years ago, are found the fossils… Read More ›
Saurosuchus was a 20-foot pseudosuchian (a distant ancestor of crocodiles) which lived in Argentina during the middle Triassic Period about 230 million years ago. It was the largest carnivorous animal in its environment in terms of both length and weight,… Read More ›
Meet the Jurassic Period’s analog of the common house cat. This is Fruitachampsa callisoni, a prehistoric reptile which inhabited western North America during the late Jurassic Period. However, this was not a dinosaur. In fact, Fruitachampsa was a distant relative… Read More ›
DINOSAURS AND BARBARIANS 