Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni

Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni; Temporal range: Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	Life restoration of Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauromorpha
Clade:	Archosauriformes
Order:	Crocodilia
Family:	Crocodylidae
Genus:	Crocodylus
Species:	†C. thorbjarnarsoni
Binomial name
	†Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni; Brochu & Storrs, 2012

Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni is an

hominins. Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni was named by Christopher Brochu and Glenn Storrs in 2012 in honor of John Thorbjarnarson, a conservationist

who worked to protect endangered crocodilians.

Description

Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni is distinguished from other crocodiles by its broad snout. It has small raised rims on the

skull table, similar to the crests in C. anthropophagus but much smaller. Also like C. anthropophagus, it has nostrils that open slightly forward rather than directly upward.^[2]

The largest C. thorbjarnarsoni skull found (KNM-ER 1682) measures 85 cm (33 in) from the tip of the snout to the back of the skull table, in comparison, the largest known extant Crocodylus skull is that of a saltwater crocodile, measuring 76 cm (30 in). Based on regression analysis for Crocodylus, this corresponds to a total length of 6.2–6.5 m (20–21 ft) but such analysis have been shown to underestimate the size of very large individuals by as much as 20%, which means it could have been as long as 7.6 m (25 ft).^[2]

Paleoecology

Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni likely preyed on human ancestors like Paranthropus and early members of the genus Homo, both of which are known from the Turkana Basin. Direct evidence of crocodilian predation is known from bite marks on hominin bones from the Olduvai Gorge, and these marks were likely made by the closely related crocodile C. anthropophagus^{[citation needed]} (anthropophagus means "human eater" in Greek). No hominin bones from the Turkana Basin bear crocodilian bite marks, so there is no direct evidence that C. thorbjarnarsoni preyed on hominins. However, modern Nile crocodiles are known to consume adult humans, and since C. thorbjarnarsoni was larger than any Nile crocodile, it easily could have eaten smaller-bodied human ancestors. Brochu and Storrs hypothesized that the lack of bite marks could have been due to hominin's awareness of crocodiles and ability to evade them, explaining that "this conflict—eat and drink, but maybe die—was presumably foremost amongst the concerns our predecessors felt when approaching ancient waterways inhabited by Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni."^[2] Another explanation was that C. thorbjarnarsoni may have eaten hominins whole with little need for biting, since it was much larger.^[2]

Specimens

Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni is known from nine skulls, all of which are housed in the

Rimasuchus lloydi, and their reassignment to C. thorbjarnarsoni reduces the range of R. lloydi to Northern Africa.^[2]

Phylogeny

The

cranium in the Olduvai Gorge of northern Tanzania.^[3]

Crocodylinae

Mecistops cataphractus West African slender-snouted crocodile

	Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni†

	Crocodylus anthropophagus†

Crocodylus niloticus Nile crocodile

	Crocodylus checchiai†

	Crocodylus moreletii Morelet's crocodile

	Crocodylus intermedius Orinoco crocodile

	Crocodylus acutus American crocodile

	Crocodylus rhombifer Cuban crocodile