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Rahonavis70m — The Chinle King
#phytosaur #placerias #triassic #smilosuchus #chinleformation #smilosuchusgregorii
Published: 2018-10-10 11:44:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 2339; Favourites: 78; Downloads: 1
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Description
In the midst of the Triassic dry season, a gigantic 10 metre long male Smilosuchus gregorii makes off with his prize, the remains of a Placerias that he killed when it got too close to the edge of the muddy pool he is spending the drought in. As he disappears to finish his share, other, smaller Smilosuchus make short work of the scraps he left behind.This took over a month to complete when it really should’ve taken about a week. Phytosaurs need more attention, especially since they were amongst the largest Triassic predators (excluding shastasaurids, of course). Postosuchus may be the one everybody knows, but Smilosuchus was the real top predator of the Chinle, with some specimens reaching at least 7 metres in length, possibly even 12 metres. At that size, taking out big, bulky prey like Placerias would’ve been significantly easier.
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Comments: 26
Looks impressive! Behiavour seems to be modeled after Nile crocodiles taking off with a fresh zebra kill
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Ta much, that’s exactly where I got the idea from
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Ooh! I have a picture of crocs eating a zebra as a reference for some of my drawings and illustrations
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The Chinle formation in general deserves more attention for it's high diversity of wildlife
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Absolutely, the Triassic in general needs more love, seeing how it’s basically the reptilian equivalent of the Cambrian Explosion.
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And the Chinle formation is the best fossil site from the Triassic period in terms of it's high diversity of unusual reptiles
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I love how the one Smilosuchus has the Placerias head in his jaws. It certainly makes him look like someone you don't mess with!
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Yeah, he’s the one who killed it in the first place, so naturally he gets bragging rights with the head. How he’s going to eat the head is another matter entirely, but considering crocodiles can eat wildebeest heads...
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I remember seeing something like this event on a documentary showing crocodiles snatching wildebeest out of the river.
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Yeah, I can imagine phytosaurs doing something quite similar.
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Like how Nile crocs are the most formidable predators in Africa.
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Hell we actually have evidence phytosaurs could, and would, take on the land-based apex predators.
That said, Postosuchus still has apex status because of habitat differences (just as lions are not regular prey for Nile crocs)
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Actually Nile crocodiles have been reported and filmed many times killing and eating lipns.
It is also certain that they are higher on the food chain than lions as they out strength out number and are much more deadly than lions.
There are multiple videos of "groups" of lions failing to kill single crocodiles that aren't even fully grown. And it can take multiple lions to protect their kill from one crocodile.
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Nile crocs can certainly kill lions and probably do so on occasion; but being aquatic animals they rarely get the chance.
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Thanks, it’s good to be back!
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That's some GUUD quality stuff!
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Thanks! Good to back! Sorry I’ve been so inactive, Masters is busy work (and tiring XD)
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