Name/Title
Suchomimus (Skull)Entry/Object ID
78.57.219Description
Age: 100 mya
Crystal System: Hexagonal System
Description: Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Theropoda
Family: Spinosauridae
Common Name: Suchomimus
Species: s. tenerenis
Age: Early Cretaceous
Location: Tegama Bed, Elrhaz Formation, Niger, Africa
Description: This specimen is a fiberglass cast of a skull which is highly detailed and fully represented with the exception of a few missing teeth which will have to be cast at a later date. The color is a bone white. This specimen is on loan from Mike Hammer.
Physical Charateristics:
Suchomimus ("crocodile mimic") is a genus of large spinosaurid dinosaur with a crocodile-like mouth that lived between 121–112 million years ago, during the late Aptian stage of the Cretaceous period in Africa.[1]Unlike most giant theropods, Suchomimus had a very long, low snout and narrow jaws studded with some 100 teeth, not very sharp and curving slightly backward. The tip of the snout was enlarged and carried a "rosette" of longer teeth. The animal is reminiscent of crocodilians that eat mainly fish, such as the living gharial, a type of large crocodile with a very long, slim snout, from the region of India.
Suchomimus also had a tall extension of its vertebrae which may have held up some kind of low flap, ridge or sail of skin, as seen in much more exaggerated form in Spinosaurus. Detailed study shows that the specimen of Suchomimus was a subadult about 11 meters (36 ft) in length and weighing between 2.9t and 4.8t, but scientists think that it may have grown to about 12 meters (40 ft) long, approaching the size of Tyrannosaurus. The overall impression is of a massive and powerful creature that ate fish and presumably other sorts of meat (carrion, if naught else) more than 100 million years ago, when the Sahara was a lush, swampy habitat.
Elements: Two piece skull fully intact except for two unidentifiable bone fragments.
Family: Spinosauridae
Fracture: Conchoidal
Grain Size: Fine
Hardness: 3 Calcite
Kingdom: Animalia (Animals)
Luster: Vitreous
Class: Reptilia
Order: Theropoda
Phylum: Chordata
Rock Origin: Terrestrial
Rock Type: Sedimentary
Sex of Specimen: Unknown
Streak: whiteCollection
Fossil CollectionAcquisition
Accession
78.57Source or Donor
Delmar Smith Fossil CollectionAcquisition Method
DonationDimensions
Width
14 inDepth
17 inLength
45 inLocation
Location
Container
Center/BackDrawer
Bottom ShelfShelf
Left, LeftWall
WestRoom
Fossil RoomBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumCategory
PermanentMoved By
Steve MillerDate
May 29, 2012Location
Cabinet
Window SpaceWall
WestRoom
Fossil RoomBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumCategory
Permanent