Name:

Simosuchus (Greek for "pug-nosed crocodile"); pronounced SIGH-moe-SOO-kuss

Habitat:

Riverbeds of South Africa

Historical Period:

Early Cretaceous (130-125 million years ago)

Size and Weight:

About 4 feet long and 10-20 pounds

Diet:

Plants

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Short, blunt skull; vegetarian diet

 

About Simosuchus:

Except for the fact that it had a blunt, dinosaur-like head, walked on all fours, and ate plants, Simosuchus was your typical early Cretaceous crocodile.


Well, that may be stretching the point a bit, but the fact that Simosuchus is classified as a crocodile at all shows how flexible the standards used by paleontologists can be (to get technical about it, crocodiles are distinguished by specific anatomical features, such as the shape and musculature of their jaws). Why did Simosuchus eat plants? Well, evolution has a way of adapting creatures to a local ecosystem's competitive standards, and it's possible that other, larger crocodiles were so efficient at hunting fish and scavenging for carrion that Simosuchus was forced to evolve in a vegetarian direction.