If you decide to study paleontology (scientific study of past life forms through fossils), you would be shocked at the amazing life that graced our planet far before we existed and you would still see resemblances of these life form in our current world not completely like them, but they got few characteristics from them or similarities with them. A very good example of such life is the Kaprosuchus which means Boar Crocodile.
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What paleontologist have been able to find about Kaprosuchus is its head and they have been working really hard to put everything together so we can understand this life that once moved on earth. With just one skull, we have known as a reptile, but every other thing we have learned about it is from its environment where it lived and the types of animals around there. Where these creature lived has made paleontologist to paint a picture of a fearsome predator who was always ready to kill.
This beast lived in the swamps of Africa over 100 million years ago with neighbors that were also fearsome like the giant fish, carcharodontosaurus, crocodylians, aegyptosaurus, Spinosaurus, and dinosaurs. Okay, we admit that its lived with predators of the time but how can we tell that it was a predator itself and not a prey? To answer this, let's look at the only evidence we have with us which is its skull.
The skull is about 60cm long which is about 6 meters long which is 2 times the size of the length of the Crocodiles that lived at the time. The skull house large teeth like that of a boar which is built to crush whatever it grabs. The eyes of the Kaprosuchus are forward facing compared to crocodiles that exists now. The positioning of their eyes helped them with depth perception and its nostrils were designed to serve as a protection. Scientists would agree that it is a terrestial animal but a closer look at Mahajangasucus which is its closest relative gives the idea that it is possibly a semi-aquatic beast.
We could also say that the Kaprosuchus looked like the Rat Croc (Araripesuchus rattoides) since all we have is a head and with no evidence, we could say it used its long teeth similar to a snout to dig up plants it would eat. So why we can say that they were carnivores, we can also say that they were herbivores sine there is no proof to back the evidence we have currently.
Kaprosuchus just like other crocodilian cannot be categorically called a crocodile but it is member of the crocodilia order. This crocodilia had very power jaws with three pairs of large teeth with both pairs of teeth going above the jaws and the lower teeth giving it the boar-like appearance compared to its crocodile appearance but its teeth are larger and straight compared to the teeth of modern crocodiles.
Very little research has been done about this crocodilia since 2009 when it was initially described. Well, we do not have full details about this animal and with just one set of bones, there is still a lot to learn about it and maybe over the years we might be able to see its other body part or other skulls but for now, we have left with the little knowledge we know about this Boar-like Crocodilia.
READ MORE
https://paulsereno.uchicago.edu/discoveries/kaprosuchus_saharicus/
https://www.mindat.org/taxon-8653346.html
https://paulsereno.uchicago.edu/exhibits_casts/african_crocs/kaprosuchus/
https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Kaprosuchus
https://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/kaprosuchus/
https://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2009/11/19/new-ancient-crocodile-species-fossils-found
https://paulsereno.uchicago.edu/exhibits_casts/african_crocs/ratosuchus/
https://paulsereno.uchicago.edu/discoveries/araripesuchus_rattoides/