Primeval Giant Among Giants (African Scientist find skull of 18,000 pound Dinosaur eating Crocodile)

International Herald Tribune and The Journal 'Science' ^ | October 27, 2001 | Guy Gugliotta

[umbra]

The crocodile was a silent stalker, as long as a school bus and weighing almost 18,000 pounds. It cruised the primordial rivers of what is now Saharan Africa, looking for unwary dinosaurs to eat.

"It was absolutely enormous, said a University of Chicago paleontologist, Paul Sereno, of the 8,165 kilogram creature. "There is nothing that would be able to handle that animal. It's like a torpedo of muscle five feet in diameter. (with body armour) The skull of the world's largest living crocdile looks like an hors d'oeuvre by comparison." In an age of giants 110 million years ago Sarcosuchus imperator was a top-of-the-food chain predator with four foot jaws that could gobble fish 12 feet (4 meters) long. The ancient crocodile was probably able to scoot ashore to bring down dinosaurs weighing tons.

Reporting on the website of the journal Science, the team of paleontologists led by Mr. Serno for the first time described the habits of this beast, whose remains were found in Central Africa's bone-dry Tenere desert in an area of Niger called Gadoufaoua-"the place where camels fear to tread in the Tuareg language.

[umbra]

This makes the movie 'Lake Placid' realistic then?

[wretchard]

You've got to wonder why so invincible an animal is now extinct. Did he run out things big enough to eat? Were the compact models more adaptable?

[RichInOC]

...and when the team broke ground on the remains, they heard this:

"...tick...tick...tick...tick...tick...."

[Cyber Liberty]

No...what happened is the croc' ran into my mother-in-law. The rest is history.

[Inge_CAV]

Ah, A pair of crocodile low-heel pumps for hitlery.

[TADSLOS]

Kriky, mate!

[ArGee]

The crocodile was a silent stalker, as long as a school bus and weighing almost 18,000 pounds.

That thing would have had to displace over two thousand gallons of water to float. Is that reasonable for something as small as a school bus? Something sounds fishy here (no pun intended).

I suppose it could have depended upon power to get to the surface and been unable to float. I don't know anything about the math to calculate what kinds of forces would be required. It probably wouldn't be silent.

Shalom.

[umbra]

The article says they had found another croc comparable in size in North America.

[umbra]

My guess is that the dinos went down after a big asteriod and with it so did the croc food source.

Sounds like this dude could eat anything..how do you defend against a school bus size croc with body armor, five foot jaws and a natural advantage momentum wise- being so low to the groud.

[umbra]

Send out the croc hunter and a couple of buddies for this one!

[umbra]

I just knew the Hillary reference was coming.

[rightofrush]

Wow! No Crock?

[Coolidge75]

Time for tactical nukes, eh? :-)

[umbra]

Send a few of these babies at Osama!

[Brian Allen]

"Kriky?"

"Mate?"

Aussie?

Eh?

Avagoodweekend,Mate -- [Don'tforgettheaeroguard!]

[genefromjersey]

Son of a gun !! The original Hildebeastus Primordialus !! Wonder if the critter wore a black pantsuit ???????

[Focault's Pendulum]

weighing almost 18,000 pounds.......five feet in diameter.......... four foot jaws

Calculating the approximate surface area results in a creature with an approximate yield of 2,500 pairs of 'gator boots or 5,000 regular pair of shoes.

Good argument for cloning.

[Chuck N]

He was Gee-eye-ANT and a REaul BEE-oooh-tee. Luv to clone his DNA so I could wrastle wit um mate. Would realee bring me rating's up yaknow! The Missus wud luv it. Luv those killa beasts don't you sweet!

[umbra]

Ahh you mean Hildebeast Imperatour, she lures the Democratic prey to the waterline and sucks them into the water never to be found again..kind of like Vince Foster, Lani Guinear, White House Travel office and Webb Hubbell.

[STD]

No it was my mudda-in-law