Dino card No. 1728 of 2,027

Sulcusuchus

Say it: sul-KOO-soo-kus

Name means: “trough crocodile”1

Ate: MeatPlesiosaursLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Sulcusuchus was a marine reptile that lived in the seas of ancient Argentina. It had deep grooves in its snout and jaw that might have helped it sense food hiding in the mud, like a dolphin does.2

Fun fact: this sea reptile swam while dinosaurs walked on land. Everyone calls them dinos, but they were a different branch of reptiles.

Lived

84 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Patagonia, Argentina (La Colonia and Los Alamitos formations)3 1

Food

Meat3 2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Sulcusuchus was first thought to be a crocodile, but scientists later realized it was a plesiosaur, a type of marine reptile.1

Its name means 'trough crocodile' because of the deep, groove-like channels on its jaw bones.1

The grooves on its snout and jaw may have held special organs that could detect electricity or movement, helping it find prey in murky water.2

One fossil of Sulcusuchus contained 95 gastroliths, or stomach stones, which may have helped it digest food or control its buoyancy.1

Sulcusuchus lived during the very end of the Age of Dinosaurs, about 69 to 66 million years ago.1

It is the only polycotylid plesiosaur from the Southern Hemisphere whose skull and lower jaw are known.2

AI-made picture of Sulcusuchus — An AI-made picture of how Sulcusuchus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Sulcusuchus

?Was Sulcusuchus a dinosaur?

No, Sulcusuchus was a plesiosaur, a type of marine reptile, not a dinosaur. It lived in the seas of ancient Argentina.1 3

?How big was Sulcusuchus?

Scientists don't know its full size, but one fossil jaw fragment is about half a meter long. That suggests the whole animal was several meters long, but no exact estimate is given.1

?What did Sulcusuchus eat?

It was a carnivore, likely eating fish and other small sea animals. The grooves in its snout may have helped it sense prey hiding in the mud, like a dolphin.1 2

Ask Rex about Sulcusuchus

Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Sulcusuchus was a dinosaur.

Truth: Sulcusuchus was a plesiosaur, a marine reptile that lived in the ocean, not a dinosaur.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Sulcusuchus
Named by: Gasparini and Spalletti 19903
Group: Plesiosaurs
Family / clade: Polycotylidae3
Classification: Plesiosauria > Sauropterygia3
Age of the rocks: 84 to 66 million years (Campanian / Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: La Colonia, Los Alamitos3
Countries: Argentina3
Fossil records: 6 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Sulcusuchus was named in 1990 by Zulma Gasparini and Luis Spalletti. The first fossil was a piece of lower jaw found in the Coli Toro Formation of Argentina.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure what the deep grooves in its snout and jaw were for. They might have held glands or electro-sensing organs, but no one knows for sure.2

Where the facts come from

Sulcusuchus (en.wikipedia.org)
Revision of Sulcusuchus erraini (Sauropterygia, Polycotylidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina (tandfonline.com)
Sulcusuchus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex