Stomatosuchus inermis

Art

Goal for the week 19.5hrs

today

sanding still

Animal

drawing by Dmitry Bogdanov

In the Middle Cretaceous in the swamps of northern Africa there was a crocodilian that became a filter feeder like a whale, Stomatosuchus inermis. It was over 40 feet long with a head that was around 6 feet long. It's upper jaw had hundreds of tiny teeth and it's lower jaw was toothless with a pelican like pouch. It is thought it would scoop water into it's throat pouch and then filter tiny invertebrates through it's teeth. It was thought to be almost fully aquatic returning to land only to lay eggs. Unfortunately very little study of this creature has been possible as the only known remains were destroyed in an allied bombing raid of the Munich Museum in 1944.

Here is a drawing that shows the scale of Stomatosuchus