Kaprosuchus
Skull of Kaprosuchus saharicus ( MNN IGU12 ), scale = 10 cm
- Kaprosuchus saharicus Sereno & Larsson, 2009
Kaprosuchus saharicus is an extinct species from the group of Crocodylomorpha, the old layers of the Upper Cretaceous in northern Niger is known from about 95 million years. The species was named because of their unusual dentition according to Greek Kapros (wild boar ) and Souchos (crocodile ), and after the site in the Sahara. Kaprosuchus is placed in the family of Mahajangasuchidae together with the genus Mahajangasuchus.
Features
From Kaprosuchus a nearly complete skull of about 50 cm length has been described, suggesting an approximately six meters long animal. The postcranial skeleton is unknown. The most striking feature are several caniniform elongated teeth in the upper and lower jaws. Sit up on Zwischenkieferbein each side three teeth, of which the third is enlarged and ten on the upper jaw, of which are enlarged third and seventh. Of the sixteen teeth each side of the mandible, only the first three, of the fifth and the eighth large enough to be visible to protrude from the bone, wherein the third and eighth are significantly increased. Kaprosuchus had powerful jaws, with the snout, fused nasal bones and laterally shifted nostrils was particularly suitable for strong biting through enhanced leading edge, possibly wearing a horny plate. The well-developed extensions of the shed leg and the side-facing eye sockets have further indicate a predominant or even exclusively terrestrial life. As prey animals came vertebrates up to the size of medium-sized dinosaurs in question.