The History of Land Crocodiles (Part 2) 

I’m pretty obsessed with the mega fauna of Australia and loved the coverage on the Australian ancient crocs ❤

Whether it was actually terrestrial or not, you can't just skip the Kaprosuchus in part 1 and think you can get away with it 😂

Would love to see you do a deep dive on Dimetrodon and the other sailfin synapsids, which species is the earliest, how long did they last, current theories on what their sails were for etc. Your documentaries are outstanding!

That megalania skeleton is in Melbourne Museum. I've stood gazing fondly at it, imagining what seeing one in the flesh would be like, many times. Thank you for giving the Australian apex predators the showcase they deserve!

Australia pre humans was definitely the coolest area in regards to the fauna. Also the boar croc skull kinda looks like a hippo scull, maybe it had a similar niche to a hippo. Keep the good videos up man!

One extinct group of animals that I'd love to see you discuss is the Phorusrhacidae, a.k.a. terror birds. While I love learning about Miocene animals, the terror birds fascinate me the most - especially Kelenken guillermoi and Phorusrhacos.

I remember when I first found out about the New Caledonian Mekosuchids and just how recently they had gone extinct and feeling genuinely sad. It's like missing out on seeing something absolutely incredible because you got there just slightly too late. Nonetheless, this was a great pair of videos, keep up the great work. While we're on the topic of strange, southern hemisphere dwelling reptiles I wonder if a video on the Megaraptorans would be something you'd consider?

You hit the nail on the head - so frustrating we missed seeing these animals geologically by a hair's breadth.

Blastoids and crinoids do not get enough love. Some were super pretty with spiraling stems. I did not know about the little burrs on stems until I found some locally(blastoids)! I would really enjoy a series on things that people are more likely to run into on hikes and such and be able to appreciate them more.

omg you just reminded me that primeval exists

Could you imagine if Australia still had it's weird megafauna? Like people bully the Aussies for the nightmarish wildlife, but imagine if they two types of dragon just chilling in the outback?

A video about the geologic history of each continent would be fascinating

Wow. what an awesome video. I never knew that the island land crocs of the pacific were arboreal. That is incredible. I think it would be cool to see some more videos about prehistoric Australia. I feel out of all the continents The Pleistocene Megafauna of Australia is the least well know to the general public with South America being a close second. Keep up the great look and I look forward to your next video

I'm just an artist who loves hearing about what the life of these creatures were like :D I love your videos! Thanks for all the work you do to make them!

The image you use of the boar croc is the same I use for my pet drake in D&D. Her name is stala and we call her our gator puppy lol. (She's only 3 feet long.) Silliness aside I love the videos you do. A video on Utah raptor and the mass grave fossil of them would be a cool idea.

I love this i am a huge fan of land crocs, as a hobby paleontologists. Funny thing we still have crocodilians that are pretty terrestrial. Caiman, Vietnamese mountain croc, etc. A speculative theory is that with global warming and a large amount of extinctions crocodilians will come back to take the role on the land.

Amazing! I suggest you to make an episode about Megaraptorans, since they're almost never talked about here on RU-vid, it would be amazing to see them get more recognition that they deserve in every way.

Awesome video as always! What I'd love to see is more about Ediacarabiota. Especially about some weird animals, like the one (forgot the name) that had a trilateral symmetry.

I've been aware of land crocs for a long time, and when you did this two parter I was very happy that more people would be able to learn about them. I posted this comment now cuz I came back to these videos when I looked them up to share them, also I was writing a story that land crocs are in, the story is set on an island chain so I made up a possible type of land croc that survived to this day, the crocs in the story are around 4'-6' 1.25M-2M long, have shorter tails, and a very powerful bite, they can be a big threat, but mostly just laze about in the trees.

I can't imagine been a human moving from my Polynesian home full of island microfauna onto an uncharted island only to find enormous Land Crocs and Giant Monitor Lizards. The fear that must have put into them. OOF!

I love listening to you talk about the ancient past and all the animals and reptiles that use to exist back then. It is all very interesting and informative. Thank you.

I’ve recently discovered your channel, and I love all of them! I am enjoying learning g about the biological history of our world! And you are very engaging! Keep it up.

I think this concept of deep diving into animal groups is great! I would love to hear about the history of snakes and how they evolved. I haven't heard much about snakes in prehistoric times at all. Also, the evolution of insects and spiders would be interesting. :D Thank you for doing these videos!

The idea of tiny crocs living in the trees is absolutely amazing. I can't believe we missed out on seeing them. Dang humans they ruined all of humanity.

Oh boy here we go! Thanks for another great video(I’m sure it’s good but I haven’t watched it yet) glad you are doing so well keep up the great work!

Don't even argue with Tim Tim !

Great video as always! I would love to see a video on the evolution of Varanids! Such an interesting group of reptiles and one of my favorites to work with!

You tell him Tim Tim!

Your videos are amazing!! The depth you go into is so exciting and I love learning so much from your channel. I would love to see a video about Helicoprion because I cannot get my head around those jaws. 😂

Appreciate your work, I get a lot out of your episodes 👍 Hope you’re doing ok during the hurricane mate.

Great video as always full of awesome information. Never want any animals to go extinct but for once I’m happy not be chased by land croc’s

Yesss I’m so glad you mentioned Ark! Kapros man…even when you are over levelled or just have good enough gear you won’t die…it will still scare you. I’ve almost died when I could have easily escaped because I fumbled and could not equip mu shotgun cuz I was panicking so much

It would be really cool if you could do a video on the psittacosaurus and the microceratus. I think its really interesting how thier ceratopsian and I would love to know more about them

I watched part one of this the other day then went back and watched all your other content. You have my subscription and I’m happily awaiting more content. Your channel is awesome!

I really love how you talk to us as adults/ equals in these videos. I have never watched anything on this subject before yours, so I went looking at those lately and the bigger the production, the more it talked in a soothing voice to put me to sleep and as if reading from a script, not Really caring about what was said. And I think the smaller productions try to mimic the larger ones, and it just makes them Boring. Also, you inject a touch of humor even when you are not trying, you can just hear it in your voice. And then of course the characters you made Really enliven things up, they are awesome. So. Thank you!

Speaking of Australian Pleistocene reptiles, a good idea for a catalog could be the giant turtle Meiolania and its relatives. Species of this genus lived with both the Quinkana on the Australian mainland as well as on New Caledonia alongside the Mekosuchus. What is more, it was also a quite distant from modern turtles.

This has been great dive into the history of land crocodilians, thank you so much for making this! As for something I'd love to see a similar breakdown of, I'm super interested in The History of Leatherback Turtles. Given that they're an entirely separate branch of turtle, unlike any of the others, and that there's only one species of these ancient aquatic behemoths remaining today, I'm sure there's a lot to be said about them and their evolution that I and others don't know about yet.

Fantastic video, I'd love more deep dives into animal groups. Also hope the storm doesn't shake up your world.

I have been waiting for this! The history of the land crocs is fascinating and i am a huge history buff, i mean ancient history, and fossil collector. So these shows, especially the ones by paleo analysis, are my favorites! I love the mega fauna but all the fauna and flora of tbe different eons is fascinating. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, and all ypur research!

I had never heard of land crocs until I found your videos. Glad I have now.

I feel like that I should say that some smaller species of Crocodiles, in Africa, and Caimans do hunt largely on land and even some larger species will hunt on land by hiding in bushes and other foliage and ambushing prey on land, usually at night. Also some small Crocodiles and Caimans, and younger individuals, can and do hang out in trees. Sadly I can't think of the names but it should be easy to find in a search. :)

It's actually fitting that you released these two part videos this month since one of the prompts from a Spectember Art Challenge was Arboreal Crocodilian, and my interpretation was directlt inspired by the land crocs like mekosuchus and the sebecids.

Thank you for your amazing work! Your channel is one of my best discoveries this year!

This is a fantastic video. Thank you for the upload. I had no idea that land crocs existed for so long and were so many different kinds

Land Crocs are as interesting as Dinosaurs, in my opinion. Thank you for all the great content you and your Paleo collegues make!

I absolutely love watching your videos. I can watch them over and over and over again. They are great!!!

Tanks a lot for the vid, lovely as always

Awesome two parter, kudos!

Thanks for the awesome content and great video!!

I have discovered your channel only recently and have bing watched many of your videos. Keep up the good work!

Really enjoyable and informative.

Fantastic series, thank you 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿👍

Hey just discovered you not too long ago slowly watching all your vids, keep up with amazing and interesting content 👍

Very well put. I'd heard vague snipits but I could find little. This is great.

Absolutely first rate video that I will be revisiting over time. Thanks so much for giving us both of these information dense lectures!

So many interesting details that could lead down rabbit holes of information, which I'm sure everyone else always wants to hear about just as much as me. Once again, I have to praise your hard work in creating this video. It's always amazing to learn these things and you do an excellent job of keeping my attention by just talking.

I appreciate that you are willing to consider the impact humans may have had on extinctions of other species.

Fantastic, I took your advice and watched part 1 - both parts are fascinating and informative, in the short time you had you conveyed a lot of information that was new to me, I’m sure Paul Sereno had a part to play in some of these croc discoveries or descriptions. Many thanks.

Amazing series

It's always lovely to see people talking about creatures like this from my homeland. From my experiences and interactions, not to many people are interested, or just don't care. Would love to see a video from you about the Diprotodon (Giant Wombat). Keep up the great work, mate.

Now that you’ve done the terrestrial crocs, think you can do the aquatic ones too? Metrioryhnchids.

great vid, thank you!

Man I love these videos so much

Woohoo! First to watch! So excited for this. I LOVE your channel.

Loved learning about land crocs would love to learn more about them or mosasaur evolution

Land crocodiles are the true archetype for mythical dragons.

Thank you for this great video ❤

This was awesome! I’d love to see a video on New Caledonia prehistoric species specifically. It had some cool, weird looking things I’ve never heard of!

A good job for making this part too video about the land Crocd it's kind of sad about these animals are long gone.

As a ferret parent, I would love to see a video about the evolution of Mustelidae. National Ferret Day is April 2*, so that would be a good target date to drop it. :) *Sigh, yes, the day after April Fools.

Enjoyed, liked, suscribed

great vid as always, damn you algorithm for making me late to it. as for something to do a vid on. i think it would be interesting to see a vid on the evolution of the Ankylosaurs (some of my favorite herbivores.)

Loved this twofer.

Very interesting and enjoyable.

Im surprised we havent seen any prehistoric crocs in jurassic park movies they are so cool

Mr. Tiktaalik I love ur videos I just subbed

Awesome coverage on the last of the land crocodiles, the mekosuchines. Also regarding the erect limb posture of terrestrial ziphodont crocodylians such as sebecids and paniocranids in comparison to the terrestrial mekosuchines. The ziphodont species quinkana would have actually had the same erect stance of sebecids and planocraniids , in a paper called “Variation in the pelvic and pectoral girdles of Australian Oligo-Miocene mekosuchine crocodiles with implications for locomotion and habitus” fossil pelvic material of a terrestrial mekosuchine that has its pelvic modified for a pillar erect configuration for an erect stance which is seen in sebecids and planocraniids. Quinkana is the only known ziphodont terrestrial mekosuchine, its highly likely these pelvic fossils come from quinkana, given the fact no other terrestrial mekosuchine has fully ziphodont dentition, and quinkana also being the largest in the terrestrial group. Also the small terrestrial and arboreal species such as mekosuchus would have had a more erect gait than modern crocs, and different than monitor lizards since they have a sprawling gait but much more elevated off the ground than typical lizard species. But I would imagine they acted similarly to monitor lizards given the similarities, even a paleontologist paul willis compared limb bones of mekosuchus to monitor lizards, and found that mekosuchus had similar humerus morphological features to monitor lizards interestingly. Also the video that compares mekosuchus to monitor lizard bones is called "Bio-geographical questions of large reptile dispersal across Australia and the South West Pacific". Also its possible that a small surviving mekosuchus species or close relative could still survive today on remote islands, and islands chains in New Guinea and the Solomon islands, would be awesome if they found a surviving species on a remote island in the south pacific or south western pacific. Also interestingly we technically have a terrestrial crocodile species living today, but is currently not living at its fullest, the cuban crocodile. What a lot of people don’t know about the Cuban croc is that there was a study on Cuban crocodile fossils found in abaco island in the Bahamas and Based on the stable isotopes found in the bones of these Cuban crocodile fossils, it lived in a terrestrial rather than aquatic food web. A terrestrial adapt carnivore that was preying on rock iguanas, hutia rodents, and tortoises. The paper is called “Domination by Reptiles in a Terrestrial Food Web of the Bahamas Prior to Human Occupation” cuban crocs would just need to be reintroduced into terrestrial habitats in the bahamas and other Caribbean islands as well as the terrestrial prey species for the cuban crocodile so it to once again thrive in a terrestrial ecosystem. The difference between quinkana, mekosuchus, and the other terrestrial crocs like sebecids and planocraniids is the fact the cuban crocodile can live in both semi aquatic environments like modern crocs, and terrestrial ecosystems as well, like the other terrestrial crocs, but the cuban crocodile isn't as highly specialized to the degree as those fully terrestrial species which have much more adaptations for living on land and being restricted to living only on land. But cuban crocs if given the chance, can become fully terrestrial carnivores, and over time, evolve and become more specialized for life on land.

Very NICE, didn't know about the arboreal crocs

As a land Crocodile myself, this video is super fascinating

I love the original of these cool crocodilians and yes amazing video

Idea for video I have: I would love for you to dive into the world of Pleistocene Britain. I always found it quite fascinating; with cave lions, bears and hyenas, aurochs, the European rhino Stephanorhinus, bison, Paleoloxodon, European hippos, Megaloceros, Tarpan and of course Neanderthals. I would love to see a video about this!!

I think the divergence of modern bird groups after the KPG Extinction event would be an interesting topic of discussion

Excellent.

I LOVE everything chicken! 🐓🐓🐓🐓 I have 94 of them so far, and chicken math is happening fast. I know they probably don't go back very far, but I'd LOVE to have you do a video on their history. Thanks for all you do! I learn a lot, and value each vid you do.

Amazing!

I would love to see an episode of cephalopods I absolutely love them and I don’t care which ones you do but cephalopods are just really cool

Funnily enough, South America already has another runner up in the land croc department. The Smooth Fronted Caiman is already semi-terrestrial

Tree crocs may still survive in Papua New Guinea and some offshore unexplored islands. There are places humans haven’t found it worthwhile to occupy so we can’t definitively say they’re extinct. Unknown species turn up all the time. We haven’t by any means seen the last of the land crocs. Given the history of life, one can’t bet against their reappearance in a future epoch.

You're an OG for that primeval reference

Great video!! I would love to see a see a video about the early ichthyosaurs, the evolution of the first sharks and the possible lost lineages from whale evolution.

a video or series on mega fauna in general would be amazing!

OH YES BABY!!! LET'S DO THIS

These videos are amazing. I’m new to the channel. Do you stuff on fish?

Thank you for an Australian episode. However I was taken aback near the end where you mentioned the the aboreal crocs were gone. I’m sure Papua New Guinea has Tree Crocodiles. Whether they are a part of this genus, or part of the monitor lizards, I have no clue. Maybe you could do some episodes on these creatures and inform us all. Thanks in advance.🎉

As an ADHD er with insomnia, I will often fall asleep to your videos. I will put an eye mask on my forehead to shift down when I'm dozing off but I feel like I'm pretending like Ive got goggles on like your icon.

Great video! Only three thousand years…

Amazing Video! Your work is just great. 🦖🐊 🥳 In a past comment I wish Terrorbirds or Penguins. But one clade would be great to see in a deep dive... Therapsids (Gorgonopside). The whole permian age is so underrated presented. Maybe this would be cool also. 🤷🏽 Thx a lot Dude! 🤓

I assume you get that a lot, but I'd love to see such a series about the evolution of mammals during the age of dinosaurs and something about how monkeys and apes became a thing and spread all over earth (human evolution which is part of the story of course being another potential topic). This may seem like a much covered topic since it's our history, but I tried to research that myself, well, without consulting serious scientific literature of course - absolutely nothing that satisfied my curiosity and told the story beginning to end. I think your format would fit perfectly

Glad you reminded me of Primeval. I loved that shit as a kid. Need to rewatch it.

I would really love to see you do a deep dive on the early stem tetrapods and amphibious tetrapods, before there were reptiles. I love them, and there's very little about them out there.