HOME | DD

Description
At the height of the dry season 70 million years ago during the late Cretaceous period of what is now the Adamantina Formation in the Bauru Basin of Brazil, an adult Gondwanatitan faustoi, a 7-meter species of titanosaur dinosaur, walks across the dry cracked earth of what would be a riverbed in the wet season. The dinosaur is already tired and weakened having had little access to water and only tough vegetation to eat, and the fact that it is made of meat isn't doing it help. The titanosaur has gained attention in the form of a 4-meter long terrestrial relative of crocodiles called Baurusuchus pachecoi, which at first just follows the dinosaur from a distance. Over time though, the crocodyliform starts getting closer and closer to the lumbering, tired dinosaur and eventually gets close enough to take a big bite at its flank, tearing off a chunk of titanosaur skin and flesh. The Baurusuchus starts eating the chunk of meat before the sauropod is even dead, the dinosaur groaning in pain from having a piece of itself ripped off. The sound of an injured animal and smell of blood attract two more Baurusuchus to arrive from further back, though these are a different species of the genus called Baurusuchus salgadoensis, which differ slightly but are similar in size and just as carnivorous, and all three will soon begin biting at the dinosaur. This isn't a coordinated pack hunt like wolves though, as each crocodyliform is doing its own attacks with no regard for what the others are doing, it's just a feeding frenzy that will go on until the titanosaur succumbs to its deep wounds and the harsh sun.

It seems that there has been some demand for me to draw baurusuchids since Slatetheraptor (www.deviantart.com/slatetherap… ) asked for that on my profile comments, and so did codylake (www.deviantart.com/codylake ) on the comments of this drawing (www.deviantart.com/olmagon/art… ), the latter specifically suggesting they be hunting a titanosaur like how Komodo dragons hunt water buffalo. Well, here it is now.

Baurusuchidae is an extinct family of crocodylomorph reptiles, with their closest living relatives being the crocodilians, which lived during the late Cretaceous period. Unlike modern crocodiles though, these animals were terrestrial, their long strong legs making them well-adapted to walking and running after prey on solid ground and they weren't aquatic. But similarly to their modern relatives, they were carnivorous and many species may have been large enough to prey on smaller dinosaur species. In particular, the Adamantina Formation of Brazil has yielded a very high diversity of fossil crocodylomorph species, including multiple baurusuchids, but a comparative lack of predatory theropod dinosaurs, suggesting in this ecosystem the baurusuchids may have taken most top predator niches instead. This formation was once thought to date back to 90 to 80 million years ago but more recent analysis suggests a slightly younger age of 72 to 66 million years instead.

First described in 1945, Baurusuchus pachecoi was the first baurusuchid to be described. The animal grew up to 4 meters long and was one of the largest predatory animals in the Adamantina. It isn't the only species of the genus though, in 2005 a second species of Baurusuchus was described and named B. salgadoensis, which was similar in size. There is also a potential third species, B. albertoi, though some experts believe it does not belong in this genus and should be reassigned. All three of these animals are from the same formation and likely coexisted, perhaps avoiding competition for the most part by niche partitioning. Their strong limbs suggests they were capable of digging, perhaps for water or thermoregulation, which would have been useful given the Adamantina had great seasonal differences, being a floodplain in the wet season but very arid in the dry season. The structure of the skull and teeth suggests Baurusuchus bit its prey in a similar manner to the extant Komodo dragon, ambushing targets and tearing back with serrated teeth, tearing off chunks of flesh and leaving deep wounds that could have even prey larger than itself bleed out (of course the Komodo is also venomous while the land crocs aren't).

The Adamantina Formation's known dinosaur remains are mostly of long-necked sauropod dinosaurs, specifically species in the titanosaur group. While the titanosaurs of the area tend to be 15 to 18 meters long, one species was quite a but smaller than the rest. Gondwanatitan faustoi was only 7 meters long, making it really small by sauropod standards and comparable in size to dwarf island sauropods like Europasaurus and Magyarosaurus. Within the titanosaur clade, this species is believed to belong in the Aeolosaurini, being closely related to the larger Aeolosaurus. It is unclear why this species was so much smaller than other continental sauropods, it clearly wasn't insular dwarfism since its habitat wasn't an island. With its diminutive size, it is more vulnerable to attack from large baurusuchids than its kin and even the adults could possibly fall prey to them.

Description
At the height of the dry season 70 million years ago during the late Cretaceous period of what is now the Adamantina Formation in the Bauru Basin of Brazil, an adult Gondwanatitan faustoi, a 7-meter species of titanosaur dinosaur, walks across the dry cracked earth of what would be a riverbed in the wet season. The dinosaur is already tired and weakened having had little access to water and only tough vegetation to eat, and the fact that it is made of meat isn't doing it help. The titanosaur has gained attention in the form of a 4-meter long terrestrial relative of crocodiles called Baurusuchus pachecoi, which at first just follows the dinosaur from a distance. Over time though, the crocodyliform starts getting closer and closer to the lumbering, tired dinosaur and eventually gets close enough to take a big bite at its flank, tearing off a chunk of titanosaur skin and flesh. The Baurusuchus starts eating the chunk of meat before the sauropod is even dead, the dinosaur groaning in pain from having a piece of itself ripped off. The sound of an injured animal and smell of blood attract two more Baurusuchus to arrive from further back, though these are a different species of the genus called Baurusuchus salgadoensis, which differ slightly but are similar in size and just as carnivorous, and all three will soon begin biting at the dinosaur. This isn't a coordinated pack hunt like wolves though, as each crocodyliform is doing its own attacks with no regard for what the others are doing, it's just a feeding frenzy that will go on until the titanosaur succumbs to its deep wounds and the harsh sun.

It seems that there has been some demand for me to draw baurusuchids since Slatetheraptor (www.deviantart.com/slatetherap… ) asked for that on my profile comments, and so did codylake (www.deviantart.com/codylake ) on the comments of this drawing (www.deviantart.com/olmagon/art… ), the latter specifically suggesting they be hunting a titanosaur like how Komodo dragons hunt water buffalo. Well, here it is now.

Baurusuchidae is an extinct family of crocodylomorph reptiles, with their closest living relatives being the crocodilians, which lived during the late Cretaceous period. Unlike modern crocodiles though, these animals were terrestrial, their long strong legs making them well-adapted to walking and running after prey on solid ground and they weren't aquatic. But similarly to their modern relatives, they were carnivorous and many species may have been large enough to prey on smaller dinosaur species. In particular, the Adamantina Formation of Brazil has yielded a very high diversity of fossil crocodylomorph species, including multiple baurusuchids, but a comparative lack of predatory theropod dinosaurs, suggesting in this ecosystem the baurusuchids may have taken most top predator niches instead. This formation was once thought to date back to 90 to 80 million years ago but more recent analysis suggests a slightly younger age of 72 to 66 million years instead.

First described in 1945, Baurusuchus pachecoi was the first baurusuchid to be described. The animal grew up to 4 meters long and was one of the largest predatory animals in the Adamantina. It isn't the only species of the genus though, in 2005 a second species of Baurusuchus was described and named B. salgadoensis, which was similar in size. There is also a potential third species, B. albertoi, though some experts believe it does not belong in this genus and should be reassigned. All three of these animals are from the same formation and likely coexisted, perhaps avoiding competition for the most part by niche partitioning. Their strong limbs suggests they were capable of digging, perhaps for water or thermoregulation, which would have been useful given the Adamantina had great seasonal differences, being a floodplain in the wet season but very arid in the dry season. The structure of the skull and teeth suggests Baurusuchus bit its prey in a similar manner to the extant Komodo dragon, ambushing targets and tearing back with serrated teeth, tearing off chunks of flesh and leaving deep wounds that could have even prey larger than itself bleed out (of course the Komodo is also venomous while the land crocs aren't).

The Adamantina Formation's known dinosaur remains are mostly of long-necked sauropod dinosaurs, specifically species in the titanosaur group. While the titanosaurs of the area tend to be 15 to 18 meters long, one species was quite a but smaller than the rest. Gondwanatitan faustoi was only 7 meters long, making it really small by sauropod standards and comparable in size to dwarf island sauropods like Europasaurus and Magyarosaurus. Within the titanosaur clade, this species is believed to belong in the Aeolosaurini, being closely related to the larger Aeolosaurus. It is unclear why this species was so much smaller than other continental sauropods, it clearly wasn't insular dwarfism since its habitat wasn't an island. With its diminutive size, it is more vulnerable to attack from large baurusuchids than its kin and even the adults could possibly fall prey to them.