I think it's worth pointing out that Kaprosuchus being from the same formation as Spinosaurus might explain why it appears to have a mix of terrestrial and amphibious traits. Like Spinosaurus it seems to be an animal suited to going between water sources quite frequently, and given what we know about the ecosystem it lived it that would probably be a very useful trait to have. Perhaps the Dwarf Crocodile of today would be a good comparison, being more terrestrial than most crocodilians, but still largely tied to the water.
@@birbdad1842 I never said there weren't fully terrestrial animals in that ecosystem, but given the fossils we have it seems to have been an environment with a fair amount of water around at times. I would say it's a pretty comfortable guess based on some of the anatomical quirks of the skull that Kaprosuchus was probably more comfortable in the water than some other, more clearly terrestrial notosuchids. My entire point was that there could have been sufficient evolutionary pressure for Kaprosuchus to be able to comfortably traverse bodies of water on a regular basis instead of going all in on a terrestrial lifestyle.
the first time I've seen Kaprosuchus was in When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs which is pretty much the only prehistoric documentary entirely focus on the crocodylomorphs of prehistory. hopefully we get more documentaries and books that focus on the many different types of extinct croc relatives.
I love that sketching of the very terrestrial Kaprosuchus, i mean its like a dragon, although if it was I'd imagine from the shape it would have had to have secondarily evolved a terrestrial habit. Whether it was terrestrial, semi aquatic or a bit of both its a really cool creature that was doing something highly unusual. The Eberhartz formation is described as being a semi arid enviroment with reasonably swift flowing rivers. Given these were the hunting grounds of the bigger saurosuchus and Suchomimus the rivers must have been pretty large and productive. Perhaps this creature was really focusing on grabbing armoured fish in faster flows a d avoiding the larger predators, with an armoured snout to protect it from being bashed about on rocks. Or perhaps it was ambushing prey in the gallery forests along the river but those teeth really are odd. Perhaps it was doing both.
i recently discovered this channel and its already one of my favourite palaeontology channels! i love your rigour and dedication to good research and scientific accuracy, as well as showcasing less known but fascinating ancient creatures
Thanks for this deep dive into Kaprosuchus, I knew so little about it except for it’s totally unique looking skull and teeth. The crocodylomorphs are many and varied, the long legged varieties I find to be the most interesting. I’m going to watch this video at least once more since it’s got a lot of info to chew on! Great stuff!
Good work on the video of Kaprosuchus saharicus aka Boar Croc my friend! It also appeared in When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs but just ARK and Primeval but in Jurassic World the app Game, Jurassic World Alive, and the novel/ comic called The Primitive War.
Wow, so great to get a deep dive on this icon! It would be so awesome if this animal was more transitional between fully terrestrial and semiaquatic. I love when those kind of organisms show up in the fossil record.
maybe the Kaprosuchus could hunt it's prey on both land and in water. probably still laid it's eggs in nests like modern crocs and raised it's offspring in the water. it probably still needed the water to help cool off during the hot dry spells. Kaprosuchus was deadly on both land and water. making it a super croc!!
A thought: Modern Crocodiles are known to grab their prey and spin around to drown and wrestle it so it can not react. Those great teeth would maybe be a good addition for attacking prey outside the water, but not hinder the spinning. On land a more powerful blow would be beneficial, while in water it is not as important because the croc would be more agile anyway.
Kaprosuchus is one of my favorite crocodilians, because it’s a very unique crocodilian, and also I remember seeing from a clip from the documentary “When Crocs Ate Dinos”, I even have the figure from Safari Ltd. I don’t think there’s any educational video about this interesting animal, so this probably the first one, great video as always.
I first learned about Kaprosuchus when I was watching Primeval for the first time about a year ago. I've been a massive fan of this animal ever since. 🐊
the thumbnail looks like the villain dino in Jurassic World unlike traditional croc, who mainly has a deadly bite, this one looks like it has the land agility and hands to help him better, like the dino in Jurassic World
You all got it wrong, its actually a defensive shy creature, false teeth to make it look bigger but with no real purpose as opposed to intimidate predators along with its horns. Bc its eyes were on the side of its head its actually considers a prey type species, so it can view its surrounding better to spot predators. It mostly dwelled on small fish and crustaceans, and some small rodents, it basked in the sun a lot as it got bigger
When it's cold crocodiles go dormant with just their nose above the ice so maybe they lived in this kind of environment and had armor on their noses so it wasn't getting chewed on by other animals while they were dormant.
This mf scared the crap out of me in Ark. Its very interesting though, you can make comparisons with the kaprosuchus and cuban crocodile we have today.
You always say that you hope we learned something interesting. - and we always do. I had no idea that there's only the skull and thought we had a complete skeleton from the long legged drawings out there. We have so much more to learn about this guy and I know that when we do, you'll have an interesting video out about it. :-)
Hi chimerasuchus, I love your videos, I just want to point out a mistake you make, it's crocodyl"o"morph, not crocodyl"io"morph. Just want to help, keep up the great work :)
I would like for you to do a video cover a very confusing archosaur, Smok wawelski. It has certain mixed traits and its relation with other archosaurs is disputed. ~ Ryan S.
What I dislike about them is their well documented and 100% accurate ability to launch themselves like a missile to ambush and knock early humans off their tamed domesticated dinosaurs
While I enjoyed this video, I think an oxygen isotope study of Kaprosuchus and its relative should be included in oxygen isotope study of Anteosaurus and the other ani.als I mention in you Anteosaurus vlog.
Did kaprosuchus drag its tail like a usual crocodile, or did it hold its tail up like a dinosaur? I ask this because its legs are much longer than a usual crocodile, so dragging it would be awkward, but at the same time it is still a crocodile which might mean it wouldn't be able to hold its tail up?
I envision this beast as a carnivorous hippopotamus that would use rivers as highways and hiding places. it would probably observe and follow herds of dinosaurs from the water and make a lightning charge onto land when it saw a good opportunity. I am also sure it wouldn't hesitate to clamp onto a saurapods head during a drink.
coming as more of a crocodilian fan, Kaprosuchus resembles the extant Cuban crocodile, with larger head scutes and an upright stance with long legs, albeit much more reduced than in the Kaprosuchus, this species is also seen as more terrestrial than most crocodiles, while still spending most of its life in the water
I think it spent an equal amount of time in and out of water. Which would explain it's intermediate traits. On a side note. It's snout could have helped it with digging. Modern boars use their reinforced snouts for this purpose.
