The apex predators that roamed the earth 230 million years in the past had a a lot weaker chunk than beforehand thought, and sure could not crunch via bone to devour the whole thing of their kills.

In a brand new examine printed in The Anatomical File, paleontologists from the College of Birmingham have recreated the unique cranium anatomy of Saurosuchus, a Late Triassic reptile that’s the distant relative of recent crocodiles. Saurosuchus was considered an apex predator as a result of its dimension and eating regimen, standing at between 5–8 meters in size and weighing over 250 kg.

Nonetheless, the most recent evaluation of the skulls of the reptile and comparisons with the later well-known dinosaur Allosaurus discovered that regardless of their comparable cranium strengths, the sooner crocodile relative Saurosuchus had a a lot weaker chunk than the dinosaurs that adopted it. Saurosuchus would have had a chunk with the pressure of 1015–1885 N, equal to fashionable crocodiles known as gharials.

For comparability:

• Allosaurus: 3,572 N
• Saltwater crocodiles have a chunk pressure of ~16,000 N
• Tyrannosaurus rex: 17,000-35,000 N

Dr. Jordan Bestwick, vertebrate palaeobiologist on the College of Birmingham and corresponding writer of the paper stated, “We discovered that Saurosuchus really had an extremely weak chunk for its dimension and thus predated animals in very other ways in comparison with later evolving dinosaurs. In reality, regardless of being one of many greater lizards and an apex predator, the Saurosuchus had a chunk that was on a par with the comparatively measly chunk of the gharial, and far much less highly effective than extra fearsome crocs and alligators round at present.

“You’d nonetheless would have preferred to depart Saurosuchus effectively alone, however they probably fed solely on the comfortable fleshy bits of their kills as their chunk would not have enabled them to crunch up bones.”

Cautious eaters

Regardless of their relative dimension, Saurosuchus would have been a cautious diner that used their again enamel to take away the flesh from their kills, the examine suggests.

In distinction to later dinosaurs, the feeding conduct of Saurosuchus is probably going as a result of a weak chunk and a extra rectangular cranium form. Additionally these earlier reptiles had thinner bones of their noses in comparison with the later Allosaurus.

Dr. Stephan Lautenschlager, Affiliate Professor in Palaeobiology on the College of Birmingham and senior writer of the paper stated, “The Saurosuchus would definitely have been a fearsome reptile till it sat right down to eat its prey, and we are able to see how evolutionary particulars within the skulls of those large apex predators necessitated vital variations in consuming conduct. Whereas dinosaurs that adopted within the Jurassic interval would have eaten the overwhelming majority of their kills, Saurosuchus might have left extra full carcasses, which might have supplied a secondary meal for carrion-feeding animals too.”

Molly Fawcett, co-author of the paper stated, “It’s really superb how comparable the skulls of prime predators within the Triassic interval (the time earlier than the domination of the dinosaurs) look in comparison with the well-known carnivorous dinosaurs such because the T. rex. Nonetheless, unexpectedly we discovered that the chunk energy of those Triassic predators have been far weaker in comparison with the post-Triassic dinosaurs.”