Hyrotrioskjan on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/hyrotrioskjan/art/Stomatosuchus-494486921Hyrotrioskjan

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Stomatosuchus

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Back from SVP (was a awesome time guys) and now founder of the PaleoPolice Facebook group... it's a busy time to be me. 
And finally I was able to color the Stomatosuchus, the largest crocodylomorph of Bahariya, here shown with the smallest, Libycosuchus. With 10 maybe 12 meter in length it's truly a giant and worth a longer article but I need to move on, I must cover a live-sized R. tubercualtus model in glass fider mats and some copyright criminals need a Thagomizer slap.
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© 2014 - 2024 Hyrotrioskjan
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dolphin-xht's avatar
This question might be rather anachronistic, since this picture was posted years ago, but I am curious about your take on the ecology of Stomatosuchus and similar species. Crocodile with highly flattened skull and extremely weak jaw seems to be a winning formula, as it has not only occurred twice in two unrelated lineage, but also come in sets in the same ecosystem (at least in the case of Cenomanian North Africa). From my preliminary online search, there seem to be two popular explanations. One suggests that these animals are like crocodilian venus fly traps that sit and wait, but the high water resistance of the large board like upper jaw coupled with the extremely weak jaw make this sounds unlikely for me. Another explanation argues that these animals are like amphibious baleen whales, but with their rigid mandibles unlike those of rorquals or pelicans, this explanation also sounds like missing some key points to me - not to mention that these creatures are equipped with a full set of teeth. Both Stomatosuchus and Mourasuchus coexisted with large gharial-like crocodiles, namely Elosuchus and Gryposuchus, so there has to be some ecological variations. So what's your interpretation of these wonderful creatures? Thank you!