{"id":5114,"date":"2024-01-25T10:25:27","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T03:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wam.vn\/en\/?p=5114"},"modified":"2024-01-25T10:25:27","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T03:25:27","slug":"the-largest-predator-during-the-cretaceous-wasnt-a-dinosaur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wam.vn\/en\/the-largest-predator-during-the-cretaceous-wasnt-a-dinosaur\/","title":{"rendered":"The Largest Predator During The Cretaceous Wasn&#8217;t A Dinosaur?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>TLDR<\/strong>: The Cretaceous period&#8217;s Dinosuchus, a giant crocodilian, rivaled dinosaurs in size, had a powerful bite, and dominated diverse habitats across North America.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This article is a summary of a You Tube video &#8220;The Largest Predator During The Cretaceous Wasn&#8217;t A Dinosaur?&#8221; by ExtinctZoo<br \/>\n<iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iZ_iLxygKjY?si=YY9WqmMLElKF8uYp\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Key Takeaways:<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Cretaceous Era Giants<\/strong>: The Cretaceous period is noted for producing some of the largest terrestrial animals and predators, including massive dinosaurs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Non-Dinosaur Giants<\/strong>: Besides dinosaurs, this era saw the growth of other large creatures like flying reptiles, marine lizards, and oversized crocodilians.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dinosuchus Discovery<\/strong>: In the 1850s, large teeth found in North Carolina led to the discovery of Dinosuchus, initially misidentified as belonging to a pliosaur.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Misestimations and Revisions<\/strong>: Early estimates exaggerated Dinosuchus&#8217; size, but it still remains recognized as a lineage of giant crocodilians.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dinosuchus Species Variations<\/strong>: Four known species of Dinosuchus include Hatcheri, Rugosus, Rio Grand Denis, and Trumer, with varying sizes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Size and Weight<\/strong>: Dinosuchus averaged 26 to 33 feet in length and weighed between 2.5 to 5 tons, with the largest estimates reaching up to 39 feet and 8.5 tons.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Skull Characteristics<\/strong>: Dinosuchus had a large, dense, and robust skull, with teeth the size of bananas, indicating a powerful bite.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Diet and Hunting<\/strong>: It likely preyed on large dinosaurs like hadrosaurs and utilized ambush tactics, with a bite force potentially exceeding that of a T-Rex.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Habitat and Range<\/strong>: Dinosuchus had an extensive range across the United States and Northern Mexico, inhabiting diverse environments including estuaries and rivers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Extinction and Legacy<\/strong>: The reasons for Dinosuchus&#8217; extinction remain unclear, and it vanished approximately 73 million years ago, leaving a significant mark in paleontological history.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Cretaceous period&#8217;s Dinosuchus, a giant crocodilian, rivaled dinosaurs in size, had a powerful bite, and dominated diverse habitats across North America..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-44","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wam.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wam.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wam.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wam.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wam.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5114"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wam.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5116,"href":"https:\/\/wam.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5114\/revisions\/5116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wam.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wam.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wam.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wam.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}