Purussaurus

Taxobox
name = "Purussaurus"
fossil_range = Early Miocene

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image_width = 290px
image_caption = "Purussaurus brasiliensis"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Crocodilia
subordo = Eusuchia
superfamilia = Alligatoroidea
familia = Alligatoridae
subfamilia = Caimaninae
genus = †"Purussaurus"
genus_authority = Barbosa Rodrigues, 1892
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = †"P. brasiliensis" (type) †"P. neivensis" †"P. mirandai"

"Purussaurus" was a giant caiman living in South America during the Miocene epoch, 8 million years ago. It i known from skull material found in the Brazilian, Colombian and Peruvian Amazonia, besides in the north of Venezuela. The skull is about 1.5 meters (5 ft) long, and paleontologists estimate that the whole body would have measured around 12 meters, which means that "Purussaurus" is one of the largest crocodilians known to have ever existed. Two other extinct crocodilians, "Sarcosuchus" and "Deinosuchus", have similar proportions, but both are geologically much older, dating from the Early and Late Cretaceous, respectively, and another from around the same era, the "Rhamphosuchus", is also estimated to be of similar size. During the summer of 2005, a Franco-Peruvian expedition (the Fitzcarrald expedition) found new fossils of "Purussaurus" in Amazonia (600 km from Lima).

External links

* [http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/02/monster_caimans.php Tetrapod Zoology post on "Purussaurus"]