Sarcosuchus

Sarcosuchus Temporal range: Late Hauterivian-Early Albian ~133–112 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Possible Cenomanian record[1]
S. imperator, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauria
Clade:	Pseudosuchia
Clade:	Crocodylomorpha
Clade:	Crocodyliformes
Family:	†Pholidosauridae
Genus:	†Sarcosuchus Broin & Taquet, 1966
Type species
†Sarcosuchus imperator Broin & Taquet, 1966
Other species
†S. hartti (Marsh, 1869) (originally Crocodylus)

Sarcosuchus (/ˌsɑːrkoʊˈsuːkəs/; lit. 'flesh crocodile') is an extinct genus of crocodyliform and distant relative of living crocodilians that lived during the Early Cretaceous, from the late Hauterivian to the early Albian, 133 to 112 million years ago of what is now Africa and South America. The genus name comes from the Greek σάρξ (sarx) meaning flesh and σοῦχος (souchus) meaning crocodile. It was one of the largest pseudosuchians, with the largest specimen of S. imperator reaching approximately 9–9.5 metres (29.5–31.2 ft) long and weighing up to 3.45–4.3 metric tons (3.80–4.74 short tons). It is known from two species; S. imperator from the early Albian Elrhaz Formation of Niger, and S. hartti from the Late Hauterivian of northeastern Brazil. Other material is known from Morocco and Tunisia and possibly Libya and Mali.

The first remains were discovered during several expeditions led by the French paleontologist Albert-Félix de Lapparent, spanning from 1946 to 1959, in the Sahara. These remains were fragments of the skull, vertebrae, teeth, and scutes. In 1964, an almost complete skull was found in Niger by the French CEA, but it was not until 1997 and 2000 that most of its anatomy became known to science, when an expedition led by the American paleontologist Paul Sereno discovered six new specimens, including one with about half the skeleton intact and most of the spine.