Pre-Jurassic reptile had weaker bite than modern crocs

Newswise — The apex predators that roamed the earth 230 million years ago had a much weaker bite than previously thought, and likely couldn’t crunch through bone to consume the entirety of their kills.

In a new study published in The Anatomical Record, palaeontologists from the University of Birmingham have recreated the original skull anatomy of Saurosuchus, a Late Triassic reptile that is the distant relative of modern crocodiles. Saurosuchus was thought to be an apex predator due to its size and diet, standing at between 5-8 metres in length and weighing over 250 kg.

However,…