STL Science Center

STL Science Center

30 October 2018

Too Many Choices

Probably because Simosuchus has such an interesting skull and teeth for a crocodilian relative there are a number of papers and studies of Simosuchus. The odd shape and the intriguing phylogenetic position of Simosuchus are also often studied topics as well. I know that a number of the readers here have read a lot of these papers, and maybe even know them by heart. The discussions here lately have been quite vibrant and I hope they continue, so if anyone reads these papers and has questions please feel free to ask them. I am sure someone can answer them. Instead of describing each paper and then linking them, I am simply going to link them by subject here. As a fair warning, many of these papers come from a 2010 Memoir edition of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology specifically about Simosuchus (read as you may need to look for additional links to read these):

Description paper by Buckley et al (2000)

Phylogeny of Simosuchus by Turner and Sertich (2010)

Craniofacial morphology by Kley et al (2010)

Postcranial skeleton:
Appendicular by Sertich and Groenke (2010)
Axial skeleton by Georgi and Krause (2010)

Osteoderms by Hill (2010)

28 October 2018

Well Done Videos

Probably not the group that we would normally turn to here to get facts and videos, the Expeditioner's Discovery Guild is a channel on YouTube that has a lot of wide-ranging videos. One of their videos is the 7:21 second description and artwork compilation addressing Simosuchus. There is a lot of good information here and it is worth watching. It actually directly answers some of questions that people have asked in the last 24 hours as well.


27 October 2018

Pug-o-dile

The pug nosed crocodile, Simosuchus clarki (Buckley et al. 2000) is named for its short and blunt snout. Recovered from the Mahajanga Province of Madagascar, the small (2.5 ft; 0.75 m) crocodylomorph had small leaf shaped teeth and is thought to have been one of a number of early suchians that was actually herbivorous rather than carnivorous. There are quite a few interesting facts about this suchian and its lifestyle that tell us a lot about the evolution of crocodiles. Stick with us to see tomorrow what kinds of interesting facts we will share tomorrow.
Photo of ROM display specimen by D. Gordon E. Robertson