In Depth
At between eleven and thirteen meters long it goes without saying that Purussaurus was an apex predator capable of attacking large prey. As a caiman crocodile, Purussaurus had an extremely stout and robust skull that housed large conical teeth suited for gripping and holding onto powerful prey.
Purussaurus is one of the growing number of contenders for the epithet of largest crocodile. Other crocs to obtain giant sizes include Sarcosuchus, Deinosuchus, Rhamphosuchus, as well as Gryposuchus and Mourasuchus, which are known from similar times and locations as Purussaurus.
Further Reading
– A new fossil crocodilian from Colombia. – Proceedings of the United States National Museum 91(3122):55-61. – C. C. Mook – 1941. – A new giant Purussaurus (Crocodyliformes, Alligatoridae) from the Upper Miocene Urumaco Formation, Venezuela. – Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 4(3):221-232. – O. A. Aguilera, D. Riff & J. Bocquentin-Villanueva – 2006. – Size and Palaeoecology of Giant Miocene South American Crocodiles (Archosauria: Crocodylia). – Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (3). – Jorge Moreno-Bernal – 2007. – Neogene crocodile and turtle fauna in northern South America. – Amazonia: Landscape and Species Evolution: A look into the past 259-280. – D. Riff, P. S. Romano, G. R. Oliveira & O. A. Aguilera – 2010. – The ‘death roll’ of giant fossil crocodyliforms (Crocodylomorpha: Neosuchia): Allometric and skull strength analysis. – Historical Biology. 27 (5): 514–524. – R. E. Blanco, W. W. Jones & J. N. Villamil – 2014. – Morphometry, Bite-Force, and Paleobiology of the Late Miocene Caiman Purussaurus brasiliensis. – PLOS ONE. 10 (2): e0117944. – Tito Aureliano, Aline M. Ghilardi, Edson Guilherme, Jonas P. Souza-Filho, Mauro Cavalcanti & Douglas Riff – 2015.
