Brachiosuchus - The Crocodiles That Didn't Skip Arm Day

Crocodilians today are seen as quite a stable group evolutionary, not having changed too much overall since the time of the dinosaurs. This statement though does have some issues, not just in how it often glosses over how diverse the group is today, but also as to how different many of their relatives were in the past.
There are a ton of these animals to discuss, so I’ll be covering a ton more at a later date, but for the moment, I feel the need to discuss one of the most interesting of them all, being the fairly recently described Brachiosuchus, an animal that nearly went under the radar. I hope you enjoy.
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Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachio...
sci-hub.se/www.tandfo...
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/...
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyrosau...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neosuchia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neosuchia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocodilia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusuchia
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Пікірлер: 131

  • @durangarand6373
    @durangarand63734 ай бұрын

    Ancient Crocodilomorphs really just went "fuck it, we ball", and convergently evolved into literally every imaginable niche.

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    The amount of different body plans the group tried out evolutionarily is nothing short of amazing.

  • @WeAreInYourWall

    @WeAreInYourWall

    4 ай бұрын

    Crocussy confirmed. 😏

  • @elmochomo8218

    @elmochomo8218

    4 ай бұрын

    Common W Archosaurs

  • @zweihander7309

    @zweihander7309

    4 ай бұрын

    Ye they even evolved into a bipedal bill gates, crazy (sorry couldn't help it)

  • @Peusterokos1

    @Peusterokos1

    4 ай бұрын

    ​@@zweihander7309 damn, good for them! Unlike the lizardfolks, I welcome our archosaurian overlords.

  • @rayhanmustakim7073
    @rayhanmustakim70734 ай бұрын

    Crocodilomorps when there's a empty niche : It's a free real estate.

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    Filling that stuff super fast, lol.

  • @WeAreInYourWall

    @WeAreInYourWall

    4 ай бұрын

    @@HenrythePaleoGuythat’s what she said.

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    ;)

  • @TotallyACat
    @TotallyACat4 ай бұрын

    5:06 - This is the ideal Brachiosuchus body. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

  • @rileyernst9086
    @rileyernst90864 ай бұрын

    It's the most heavily armed croc I have ever seen.

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    Very true, haha.

  • @SuperBetaBuxbros.

    @SuperBetaBuxbros.

    4 ай бұрын

    Suchomimus ? Deinochirus

  • @tahliam7377
    @tahliam73774 ай бұрын

    The entire crocidilian group gives me 'God's overpowered OC' vibes and this guy does not change my mind.

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    Definitely a big bias, haha. They have so many top-tier adaptations.

  • @millie-mayprice891
    @millie-mayprice8914 ай бұрын

    Re: the importance of paleo artists.... hard agree. Paleo art is the magic spell that turns children into paleontologists. Fossils and science are cool.... But a badass painting of a scene from millions of years ago showing them as real animals doing real animal stuff? Or a show like walking with dinosaurs (which is arguably just hours and hours of moving pale art)... That's where the fascination and the joy and the love starts, for many people anyway.

  • @melvinshine9841
    @melvinshine98414 ай бұрын

    2:39 - 2:50 I love that they used Steve Irwin for a comparison. Okay, the image at 6:28 is hilarious. It's interesting that it has such long forelimbs, yet would've been ungainly on land. The slender skull hints at it primarily feeding on smaller fish, despite how huge the animal is, but I can't think of a good reason for arms to be so disproportionally long.

  • @patreekotime4578
    @patreekotime45784 ай бұрын

    The illustration of it walking along the bottom of a river was really cool. It makes me wonder if these lineages had continued if eventually the rear legs would have become completely vestigial like in whales and manatees.

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    Hard to say really. Reptiles have quite different base locomotory capabilities compared to mammals, especially in how they move in the water, so they would likely keep them as some form of balance and for fine movements. I'll get back to you on if there's more I can find on this, since I remember reading up on this recently. :)

  • @stevepalpatine2828

    @stevepalpatine2828

    4 ай бұрын

    That's probably how Mosasaurs and (magical) Liopleurodons happened.

  • @noobsplaybest6883

    @noobsplaybest6883

    4 ай бұрын

    Skull crawler crock sounds amazing.

  • @SuperBetaBuxbros.

    @SuperBetaBuxbros.

    4 ай бұрын

    Cetacean croc

  • @Cancoillotteman
    @Cancoillotteman4 ай бұрын

    Now i want a montage of of Brachiosuchus motivating T Rex to THICK THOSE ARMS

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    *Anime montage ensues*

  • @AncientAnimalAtlas
    @AncientAnimalAtlas4 ай бұрын

    How does a Brachiosuchus cheer up its friends? By giving them a "lift" to the treetops for a view and then a splash in the river for a swim-talk about a mood booster! 😎

  • @flightlesslord2688
    @flightlesslord26884 ай бұрын

    of course, of course there was, in the insane variety of ancient crocs, one who could slap box. That or it was adapted for giving hugs. Seems a cool guy.

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    The ancient past has so much to offer!

  • @dukecity7688
    @dukecity76884 ай бұрын

    Was that Steve Irwin measuring that croc? Beautiful art.

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    Sure is! Will never be forgotten. :)

  • @joaosenra2775
    @joaosenra27754 ай бұрын

    Dyrosaurids in general suffers from lack of paleoarts, illustrations and Paleomedia representation in general.They're a very obscure clade of Crocodyliforms that survived the K-Pg extinction and was quite diverse. Brachiosuchus is one of the most spectacular findings of the recent years. I hope shows like Prehistoric Planet give some screentime to them.

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    They absolutely deserve so much more attention than what they've so far got. I hope to cover more of them down the line where possible. :) Unfortunately there are a ton of other animal groups just like them that I hope to get to soon. :)

  • @huitzilinf_art
    @huitzilinf_art4 ай бұрын

    2:26 🤯🤯🤯 I DID IT! I MADE IT! Thank you for the credit!

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    It's a pleasure to feature your art! You do a really great job with the texturing that always makes me happy. :) Keep up the great work!

  • @huitzilinf_art

    @huitzilinf_art

    4 ай бұрын

    ​@@HenrythePaleoGuy Thank you very much!

  • @gl15col
    @gl15col4 ай бұрын

    This critter may have been on the road to turning front limbs into paddles and back limbs into fins for steering, if they'd survived a couple more million years along with flexible tail. They seemed to be caught in the middle of making a shift of some kind, as they were not perfectly suited to water or land.

  • @kuitaranheatmorus9932
    @kuitaranheatmorus99324 ай бұрын

    Brachiosuchus is one of my favorite prehistoric crocs and am so glad you did amazing video on it

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    Likewise! I was completely blown away seeing them for the first time. Glad so many are now learning about them through my video. :)

  • @RheaMainz
    @RheaMainz4 ай бұрын

    5:11 is the posture of a crocodile who _skipped every_ arm day

  • @HassanMohamed-rm1cb
    @HassanMohamed-rm1cb4 ай бұрын

    Hey Henry The PaleoGuy, why don’t you get to think of a suggestion and creating a KZread Videos all about the Amphicyons (Bear Dogs) coming up next?!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍👍👍👍👍

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    It is down on my notes list for future videos. :) A lot to cover of course, so it will take a while!

  • @williambeckett6336
    @williambeckett63364 ай бұрын

    Seems built to grapple prey into the water rather than drag it in with its jaws. Once in the water of course they'd have the crocodilian advantage. The arms appear to me as the snare mechanism. Or they could be highly specialized lunging mechanisms.

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    Unfortunately we don't have the digits, but if their relatives are anything to go by, that's pretty doubtful. There is one explanation for the large arms that I've noticed that was really intriguing, so I'll be sharing that as a short soon. :)

  • @leobuana7430

    @leobuana7430

    4 ай бұрын

    the jaw shape don't really fit for prey that need grapling

  • @rickharold7884
    @rickharold78844 ай бұрын

    Cool. and yes supports the artists!!!

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    They certainly are! So many amazing artists to feature, and it's always such a great feeling to know so many more people know of them and their craft. :)

  • @dinohall2595
    @dinohall25954 ай бұрын

    Great video, and I wholeheartedly agree with the last point about paleoart. Creating a visual depiction of an extinct animal that's both scientifically accurate and engaging to viewers is an impressive talent that too often goes underappreciated. I know I always remember an extinct animal I learn about a little more vividly when there's a striking image of it living life in its natural habitat.

  • @sassa82
    @sassa824 ай бұрын

    Great video!🎉

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    Thank you so much for watching! :)

  • @nationalsniper5413
    @nationalsniper54134 ай бұрын

    Large forelimbs is something also seen with sea turtles.

  • @primrosevale1995
    @primrosevale19954 ай бұрын

    I love that we know technically have two ‘arm lizards’ now.

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    Kind of, haha. Only 'suchus' in place of 'saurus'. :)

  • @conkle7955
    @conkle79553 ай бұрын

    The croc doesn't look like needs a hand. He looks like the type to keep people at arm's length.

  • @Godking_kerfuffel
    @Godking_kerfuffel4 ай бұрын

    Crocodilians terrify me by their sheer adaptability

  • @darchandarchan7036
    @darchandarchan70364 ай бұрын

    Croc with long arms definitely belongs to “scientific images that look like shitposts”

  • @SlothOfTheSea
    @SlothOfTheSea4 ай бұрын

    Brachiosuchus in water: A terrifying reptile with oddly long forelimbs, giving an eerie, skinwalker-like appearance. Brachiosuchus on land: A pancake

  • @jasonsantos3037
    @jasonsantos30374 ай бұрын

    Interesting about Crocodile with longer limbs.

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    It really is! Thanks for watching!

  • @monke_with_da_banan_
    @monke_with_da_banan_4 ай бұрын

    Epic!

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    They really are!

  • @BarelyDecentProduction
    @BarelyDecentProduction4 ай бұрын

    I like that many channels still used Steve Irwin as the silhouette whenever they're talking about an ancient crocodilian

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    It's a classic, time-honoured tradition. :)

  • @minted1841
    @minted18414 ай бұрын

    Cool. Heading to 100,000 subscribers . Looking forward to KIWI when you get there :)

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    The video has already gathered 48 subscribers, and then another 36 from people checking out other videos, so it's certainly getting there slowly but surely! Will keep up with the uploads. Looking forward to Kiwi time too! :)

  • @minted1841

    @minted1841

    4 ай бұрын

    Way to go. Onwards & upwards :)

  • @varanid9
    @varanid94 ай бұрын

    Huh, I wonder if they looked into the possibility that those forelimbs were from a carcass it had ingested and not its own.

  • @meonkrishnanan5920
    @meonkrishnanan59204 ай бұрын

    95 million years old Imagine the experiences hidden in the DNA... imagine what their (modern crocs) ancestors have seen? What they've FELT

  • @jsmoothd654
    @jsmoothd6544 ай бұрын

    I love prehistoric creatures that share parts of other creatures names. I’m picturing a crocodile with Brachiosaurus’s head

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    I've noted it a few times when people just assume I'm talking about the dinosaur. Would be one crazy looking animal for sure!

  • @Relyt345
    @Relyt3454 ай бұрын

    I like your point about paleoart. I enjoy how it stimulates me to imagine what it would feel like to come face to face with an animal. Being in the water and seeing that thing swimming would be horribly terrifying.. I’d be hoping it doesn’t like the smell of shit

  • @maozilla9149
    @maozilla91494 ай бұрын

    nice video

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    Thanks my dude! These guys were really wacky crocodile relatives! :)

  • @maozilla9149

    @maozilla9149

    4 ай бұрын

    your welcome@@HenrythePaleoGuy

  • @Velkhana_The_Myth
    @Velkhana_The_Myth4 ай бұрын

    Do you have a episode on Metriorhynchus, the fish-croc?

  • @erichtomanek4739
    @erichtomanek47394 ай бұрын

    Given how stable Sudan is, it's highly irresponsible to ship them "back". I hope at least lots and lots and lots of physical and digital copies are made of excellent quality and forwarded to as many institutions and private collections around the world.

  • @dan240393
    @dan2403934 ай бұрын

    I wonder if it used the arms to navigate reefs or mangroves. Looks weird outside of water. But sensible if you need to be constantly pushing and pulling on rocks/roots.

  • @graphite2786
    @graphite27864 ай бұрын

    Until we find more specimens ( we only have one) it's very hard to come to a plausible conclusion regarding the forelimbs. Because the cranium is very gracile, it was obviously adapted to smaller, fast moving prey- fish and squid. The fore limbs weren't paddlelike but we don't have the hands.They could have been large and webbed - like a duck or frog. This would suggest they were for locomotion- swimming. However if the hands were blunt and clawed, digging (food? nest?) stabilisation on turbulent shores or even a consequence of sexual selection ( fighting for dominance? Mate /territory guarding? An indicator of genetic fitness? Supernormal stimulus?)could all be possible candidates.

  • @fahdrightone7428
    @fahdrightone74284 ай бұрын

    Brachiosuchus was given the right bear arms. And then a little more as well.

  • @Kaiju_Fan10
    @Kaiju_Fan104 ай бұрын

    Now I am wondering, is he a pro arm wrestler?

  • @GeorgeTheDinoGuy
    @GeorgeTheDinoGuy4 ай бұрын

    This crocodilian is my gym bro, I wonder if they went extinct due to performance enhancing invertebrates xD

  • @praetorianrex5571
    @praetorianrex55714 ай бұрын

    If a reptile with arms like this could punch, what would the digits look like? 🤔

  • @shinaniganz4453
    @shinaniganz44534 ай бұрын

    I think they did it solely to mock on theropods small arms

  • @pedrogabrielduarte4544
    @pedrogabrielduarte45444 ай бұрын

    Do walking with Beasts And walking with monsters

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    I look forward to covering them when I'm able. :)

  • @pedrogabrielduarte4544

    @pedrogabrielduarte4544

    4 ай бұрын

    @@HenrythePaleoGuy ok!

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    @@pedrogabrielduarte4544 I will say I do apologise for the slowness of videos lately, and that's down to me getting used to a new kind of schedule that I'm so far getting to grips with. I aim to get them down sooner or later though. :)

  • @pedrogabrielduarte4544

    @pedrogabrielduarte4544

    4 ай бұрын

    @@HenrythePaleoGuy so do it!

  • @vladline1882
    @vladline18824 ай бұрын

    Imagine Brachioceratops long armed ceratopsian lmao

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    Now that would be a damn cool animal!

  • @praetorianrex5571
    @praetorianrex55714 ай бұрын

    Any fossil animals that are suspected or confirmed to generate bio electricity?

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    I don't believe so, no.

  • @GraniteGhost778
    @GraniteGhost7784 ай бұрын

    wait, did he say that cetiosaurs are still living? or am I hearing the wrong animal name?

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    At what timestamp?

  • @GraniteGhost778

    @GraniteGhost778

    4 ай бұрын

    @@HenrythePaleoGuyat 4 minutes. Which 'still living' animal group did you say there? I may be mishearing.

  • @HeyHeyHarmonicaLuke

    @HeyHeyHarmonicaLuke

    4 ай бұрын

    @@GraniteGhost778 "Sea turtles"

  • @GraniteGhost778

    @GraniteGhost778

    4 ай бұрын

    @@HeyHeyHarmonicaLuke that makes much more sense.

  • @HeyHeyHarmonicaLuke

    @HeyHeyHarmonicaLuke

    4 ай бұрын

    @@GraniteGhost778 After you primed my mind, all I could hear was cetiosaurs too :) I solved it by noticing a sentence in the wikipedia page they are paraphrasing: "The enlarged forearms are a unique adaptation amongst crocodyliforms, drawing parallels to sauropterygians, plesiosaurs and sea turtles."

  • @purplehaze2358
    @purplehaze23584 ай бұрын

    If there's any marine reptile that could survive the KT mass extinction, it'd definitely be a crocodilian lmao

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    It's really great that them as a whole managed to. A shame the dyrosaurids went extinct so soon afterwards, but they had a good run.

  • @raulpinto7543
    @raulpinto75434 ай бұрын

    Perhaps an arboreal croc presenting convergent adaptations similar to the modern-day gibbon? 😂😂

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    There is some pretty funny art of that, lol. Will have to refind it. :)

  • @Dinoramascuplts-Tyrex
    @Dinoramascuplts-Tyrex4 ай бұрын

    Is it possible it hunted like a bear or quad-heron?

  • @benjiramirez7712
    @benjiramirez77124 ай бұрын

    Ok it’s not the original guy but this guy is definitely more of the vibe for this channel. I fuck with this narrator

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    My voice has changed quite a bit over the years, haha. I assume that's what you're referring to?

  • @benjiramirez7712

    @benjiramirez7712

    4 ай бұрын

    @@HenrythePaleoGuy NO SHOT BRO MY BAD DAWG FUCK LMAOOO I REMEMBER WHEN YOU SOUNDED LIKE FROM LIKE A FEW YEARS AGO DOG NEVERMIND I APPROVE

  • @brianroberts783
    @brianroberts7834 ай бұрын

    I have a crazy idea. Perhaps the longer arms developed in brachiosuchus due to sexual selection. Perhaps they used push-up contests to determine dominance and compete for mates, a behavior which has been observed in various extant reptiles. That could result in individuals with longer arms having higher mating success, pushing the species to develop such abnormally long forelimbs. It should be noted, I'm neither a paleontologist nor an evolutionary biologist, so no need to take this seriously or assign any credibility to it. I'm just a guy who thought the mental image of a crocodile doing push-ups was hilarious.

  • @chazdoomy1512
    @chazdoomy15124 ай бұрын

    Could this thing have been bipedal?

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    If they were, they would certainly be among the most unusual animals ever, haha. They'd be like a living Dr Livesey edit.

  • @duncan7593
    @duncan75934 ай бұрын

    2:48 Tucker Carlson for scale

  • @user-qt3ku7ge3k
    @user-qt3ku7ge3k4 ай бұрын

    Completely unrelated question, but have you ever heard of Team Fortress 2?

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    I played it once way back in 2017, though my computer barely handled it, and I unfortunately haven't picked it up since. I had heard of it years beforehand though. :)

  • @user-qt3ku7ge3k

    @user-qt3ku7ge3k

    4 ай бұрын

    @@HenrythePaleoGuy is good👍

  • @darkiler6663
    @darkiler66634 ай бұрын

    Skull crawlers almost had evolve

  • @benzina7
    @benzina74 ай бұрын

    Dynosaurus.

  • @hatsudopia5085
    @hatsudopia50854 ай бұрын

    We should try and look at living fossils as recognizable as their moder day counterparts not identical.

  • @tahliam7377
    @tahliam73774 ай бұрын

    Skip to 0.51 to hear Henry's beatboxing audition tape.

  • @Hasone12543
    @Hasone125434 ай бұрын

    When he talks: ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

  • @resfar69
    @resfar694 ай бұрын

    your voice is so god damn whistley

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    Just how my current microphone picks stuff up. I aim to improve where I can though.

  • @Velkhana_The_Myth
    @Velkhana_The_Myth4 ай бұрын

    Do you have a episode on Metriorhynchus, the fish-croc?

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    4 ай бұрын

    Not just yet, but I will sometime in the future. :)