Erythrosuchus: The Giant Headed Predator of the Triassic Period

The big-headed Erythrosuchus was a massive reptilian predator from Middle Triassic South Africa. It was not only the largest member of its clade, Erythrosuchidae, but perhaps the largest terrestrial predator from the time before the evolution of its distant relatives, the dinosaurs. Despite its seeming primitive, lumbering appearance, Erythrosuchus already possessed a number a of adaptations which proved critical to the later success of its dinosaurian cousins.
Thank you to the themattalorian for narrating this video.
Sources:
royalsocietypublishing.org/do...
royalsocietypublishing.org/do...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/f...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/f...
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
markwitton-com.blogspot.com/20...
00:00 - Introduction
00:25 - Discovery
00:55 - Origins
02:14 - Size
02:58 - Skull
05:02 - Limbs
06:49 - Metabolism
07:39 - Paleoecology
08:59 - Conclusion
09:46 - Outro

Пікірлер: 184

  • @dagoodboy6424
    @dagoodboy6424 Жыл бұрын

    Other archosaurs: "where do u work out?" Erythrosuchus: "The library."

  • @DJuuJ

    @DJuuJ

    5 ай бұрын

    Underrated comment

  • @TheAnimalKingdom-tq3sz
    @TheAnimalKingdom-tq3sz Жыл бұрын

    Imagine an argument between Erthyrosuchus and Cotylorhynchus over some heads

  • @Medicbagg

    @Medicbagg

    Жыл бұрын

    this came out very weird in my head lol

  • @joey2765

    @joey2765

    Жыл бұрын

    Just searched up corytylorhynchus. Ain’t no way it really looks like that wtf

  • @isaiahgarza87

    @isaiahgarza87

    Жыл бұрын

    Whoever has the most head?

  • @andrewgan557

    @andrewgan557

    Жыл бұрын

    Erythrosuchus: pinhead! Cotylorhynchus: bobblehead!

  • @darklord247

    @darklord247

    Жыл бұрын

    Cotylorhynchus: Where do you work out? Erythrosuchus: At the library

  • @Publicistvideos
    @Publicistvideos Жыл бұрын

    I’m glad they found a full skeleton because it really looks like a reconstruction mistake 😂

  • @seanmckelvey6618
    @seanmckelvey6618 Жыл бұрын

    I love that channel puts the spotlight onto the more obscure prehistoric animals instead of just going over the same ones that get covered all the time. I love dinosaurs, I love all the really famous ones as well, but there are so many other amazing prehistoric animals that deserve to be discussed and have attention brought to them. The Archosaurs and their relatives are such a fascinating group of reptiles and I think it's important to understand what led to the famous ones we all know and love to really grasp just how impressive and unique the dinosaurs and the crocodilians really are.

  • @ian_b

    @ian_b

    Жыл бұрын

    I agree, I really like the focus of this channel.

  • @1200hobos

    @1200hobos

    Жыл бұрын

    Yeah mainstream dinosaurs suck. I liked the Archosaurs before they signed to a label. I used to go to a pub in Pittsburgh to see their shows before the lead singer hung himself. You people are nerds.

  • @jackstraw4222

    @jackstraw4222

    Жыл бұрын

    there plenty ,i just hope toy companies collecta and safari make models of them since as far as im aware they have this fixation on postosuchus..

  • @guyincognito959

    @guyincognito959

    Жыл бұрын

    I tried to read into it on wikipedia, but it is a huge and not at all easy to pick up field. It starts with taxonomy, and that is a huge mess, and it also has of course a very comlex language because of the nature of the matter. Let alone the often outright wrong interpretations from old science. And then that fascinating but confusing tendency to have animals that have nothing to do with each other look similar does not help much either. But that perspective alone is something, to have that relative certainty and more advanced view of the puzzle is something that people in younger times would envy us. And scientific and interesting channels are always a good find, so :D

  • @MrEmilable

    @MrEmilable

    Жыл бұрын

    completely agreeing here, i hope some day this channel covers fasolasuchus, i don´t see ANY CHANNELS covering fasolasuchus at all.

  • @terminalarray1047
    @terminalarray1047 Жыл бұрын

    My favorite part about this channel are obscure animals I've never heard of. It effectively gives you limitless content to go over.

  • @dinohall2595
    @dinohall2595 Жыл бұрын

    I knew it was only a matter of time before this channel covered Erythrosuchus, and just as I suspected, the video did not disappoint! Keep up the good work! 👍

  • @doltsbane
    @doltsbane Жыл бұрын

    Erythrosuchus looks like it should be fighting Gamera in one of his movies from the late Sixties.

  • @rileyernst9086
    @rileyernst9086 Жыл бұрын

    I love erthyrosuchus, it just mini-maxed its damage output to get into that top predator niche :D

  • @cravensean
    @cravensean Жыл бұрын

    I actually giggled when I saw this -- it's like you're in my head, man. Mark Schulz used this or something like it in a sequence in issue twelve or thirteen of Xenozoic Tales. Gorgeous illustration, much too laborious for comics...

  • @TheMrPeteChannel
    @TheMrPeteChannel Жыл бұрын

    It's proportions make it look like a Star Wars beast/creature.

  • @akiraasmr3002
    @akiraasmr3002 Жыл бұрын

    You can do a video on Dunkleosteus now that its size has been nerfed to 3-4 meters.

  • @GeneralKatarn
    @GeneralKatarn Жыл бұрын

    Found in Namibia finally some coverage of the red croc

  • @edwardfletcher7790
    @edwardfletcher7790 Жыл бұрын

    It looks like a bad Victorian era mock up ! How did that huge head evolve ?? Bizarre creature !!

  • @carolynallisee2463
    @carolynallisee2463 Жыл бұрын

    This isn't the only time Nature has tried this body plan out. She might have started practicing with the 'amphibian' tetrapods earlier, though I'm not certain about them. What does come to mind is the mammal Andrewsarchus, whose remains, as far as I know, consist only of a skull . It was clearly a meat eater, and that skull is huge. It's almost as if Nature has favourite body shapes She likes to keep in circulation, such as barrel bodied herbivores with long forelimbs, shorter hindlimbs, smallish heads on longish necks. There are others, I'm sure, but these two body shapes are the ones that are most noticeable!

  • @seanmckelvey6618

    @seanmckelvey6618

    Жыл бұрын

    Well, if it worked once chances are it will work again. But I agree that it's fascinating how similar forms evolve over and over again, often in completely unrelated groups of animals. Convergent evolution is really an amazing thing.

  • @akiraasmr3002

    @akiraasmr3002

    Жыл бұрын

    Andrewsarchus has a similar skull shape to Daeodon's skull and they happen to be related to each other.

  • @Dr.IanPlect

    @Dr.IanPlect

    Жыл бұрын

    @@seanmckelvey6618 All groups are related.

  • @steppin-razor

    @steppin-razor

    Жыл бұрын

    Caniform seems like a favorite too

  • @chheinrich8486

    @chheinrich8486

    Жыл бұрын

    Well not just andrewsarchus, entelodons as a whole

  • @WilliamHostman
    @WilliamHostman Жыл бұрын

    Very nicely done! Love the obscue ancient animals, especially your clear love of crocodilomorphs!

  • @AntoekneeDE
    @AntoekneeDE Жыл бұрын

    Absolutely awesome content again, very much enjoying a spotlight shone on Permian and the true bulk of the Triassic. Thank you so much for putting your efforts into these videos and sharing them

  • @thelaughinghyenas8465
    @thelaughinghyenas8465 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you. Very interesting and well done. The narrator was very effective here.

  • @mikesnyder1788
    @mikesnyder1788 Жыл бұрын

    Excellent presentation! I am loving these deep dives into the "suchus" family tree especially because just a few years back I could find very little on the subject. Keep up the good work and keep the content coming! Many thanks!

  • @rocioaguilera3555
    @rocioaguilera3555 Жыл бұрын

    I love your videos. I learn information that I ignored. Thanks for teaching me about Erythro succus, the red crocodile

  • @jeffreyduff4269
    @jeffreyduff4269 Жыл бұрын

    Trochanter is pronounced, "troe -kanter".

  • @ronniewestherly3435
    @ronniewestherly3435 Жыл бұрын

    I love this channel because this dude does his research really great. I have not run into the first video of his that I don't like an I have been on this channel a really long time. Keep up the great work!!

  • @1998topornik
    @1998topornik Жыл бұрын

    It maybe a fearsome predator but its body proportion still looks funny to me.

  • @5610winston

    @5610winston

    Жыл бұрын

    A dino-croc designed by Chuck Jones?

  • @stephenbahrmarbles
    @stephenbahrmarbles Жыл бұрын

    That body design is outrageous! 💥Thanks for sharing!

  • @croc_moat2327
    @croc_moat2327 Жыл бұрын

    You finally made a vid about it let's gooo my life is complete now

  • @atw196
    @atw196 Жыл бұрын

    Great vid as always ! Could pls do more videos about large ancient crocs ?

  • @kuitaranheatmorus9932
    @kuitaranheatmorus9932 Жыл бұрын

    Erythosuchus are a beautiful group of animal,so that's amazing and this video was really good Hope you had a great day

  • @CountryBallsEdits2023
    @CountryBallsEdits2023 Жыл бұрын

    Wow! Another great video!

  • @paleo-logica
    @paleo-logica Жыл бұрын

    Gorgeous video, my friend! 😍

  • @JorgeMorenoCGArtist
    @JorgeMorenoCGArtist Жыл бұрын

    Very interesting reptile! Thanks for this content

  • @rosiehawtrey
    @rosiehawtrey Жыл бұрын

    Hmm, what just happened to my Tegu? 🥺

  • @sauraplay2095
    @sauraplay2095 Жыл бұрын

    Amazing! I had no idea they were part of that family.

  • @deathhimself4676
    @deathhimself4676 Жыл бұрын

    Great video.

  • @rhoff523
    @rhoff523 Жыл бұрын

    Outstanding content! And a coup for getting the Mandalorian to narrate!

  • @lasschesteven
    @lasschesteven Жыл бұрын

    Some of those Erythrosuchus reconstructions look like someone stuck a Tyrannosaurus head on a Komodo dragon as a joke lol

  • @phytosurusgiganteus3461
    @phytosurusgiganteus3461 Жыл бұрын

    I just started reading about this strange and fascinating animal and I see that they are making a new video, I remember seeing a picture of a man next to the fossil skull some time ago, I wanted to see it again but I can't find

  • @spymaine89
    @spymaine89 Жыл бұрын

    thank you

  • @dunkleosteusyaetuanalien
    @dunkleosteusyaetuanalien Жыл бұрын

    Good movie

  • @posticusmaximus1739
    @posticusmaximus1739Ай бұрын

    An episode on Archosaurus, a Permian archosauroform, would be awesome. The proto-ruling lizard underdog that lived under the shadows of the synapsids.

  • @TheaSvendsen
    @TheaSvendsen Жыл бұрын

    THAT is a massive head!!

  • @pacotaco1246
    @pacotaco1246 Жыл бұрын

    The M.O.D.O.K. of the triassic

  • @johnossendorf9979
    @johnossendorf9979 Жыл бұрын

    Very cool!

  • @mlggodzilla1567
    @mlggodzilla1567 Жыл бұрын

    Another great video 😎 (for some reasons I thought this was an old video and watched it without commenting it, wtf)

  • @oleandreasjensen5263
    @oleandreasjensen5263 Жыл бұрын

    Awesome video. - A formidable predator with up to 20 cm long teeths. -Same size or bigger than a T-Rex!! - Imagine if these creatures still hae been here today !!! - Scary ?... Yes

  • @telfordexotics167

    @telfordexotics167

    Жыл бұрын

    What goes through your head when you type something like this 🤣🤣🤣

  • @jackstraw4222

    @jackstraw4222

    Жыл бұрын

    there was a few other non dinosaurs that had huge skulls and teeth way bigger than most carnivorous dinosaurs..and much more impressive in my view...

  • @telfordexotics167

    @telfordexotics167

    Жыл бұрын

    @@jackstraw4222 I'd probably say the same tbh

  • @maozilla9149
    @maozilla9149 Жыл бұрын

    cool video

  • @jpbrindamour5467
    @jpbrindamour5467 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you. This video made me laugh so hard. 😂😅

  • @jasonz7788
    @jasonz7788 Жыл бұрын

    Cool thanks 👍

  • @sheikhshit
    @sheikhshit7 ай бұрын

    Certified "working out at the library"moment

  • @user-jz6pq4zx3e
    @user-jz6pq4zx3e21 күн бұрын

    It's a damn shame that we cannot travel back in time to see these beasts.

  • @chheinrich8486
    @chheinrich8486 Жыл бұрын

    he looks like a comodo dragon with a t rex skull

  • @charlesdarwin7647
    @charlesdarwin7647 Жыл бұрын

    Good. I like that creature.

  • @man_with_water_addiction984
    @man_with_water_addiction984 Жыл бұрын

    This guy was a head of his time ;)

  • @jimwinship7159
    @jimwinship7159 Жыл бұрын

    How do we know this creature had a high metabolism? Or is this just speculation?

  • @chimerasuchus

    @chimerasuchus

    Жыл бұрын

    It can be determined by, among other things, their bone histology. An animal's growth rate is constrained by its metabolic rate, and Erythrosuchus and most other archosauriformes grew well beyond what ectotherms are capable of. There are other traits within their bones indicative of their high metabolisms, but their growth rate is one of the most important.

  • @prasanth2601

    @prasanth2601

    Жыл бұрын

    @@chimerasuchus Can you please tell me on AVERAGE which crocodilian is bigger- Deinosuchus or purusaurus?? And which has a bigger bite force

  • @kbennett2587
    @kbennett2587 Жыл бұрын

    They look like the 19th century art of dinosaurs.

  • @Alberad08
    @Alberad08 Жыл бұрын

    Long before we saw the rise of talking heads, there had been eating heads 😄

  • @genghiskhan6809
    @genghiskhan6809 Жыл бұрын

    Interesting.

  • @Medicbagg
    @Medicbagg Жыл бұрын

    ah yes the only reason I know this creature is through a carnivores 2 mod

  • @simonemerlo4849
    @simonemerlo48496 ай бұрын

    amazing animal

  • @lamaspacos
    @lamaspacos Жыл бұрын

    The word "reptiles" so ready in the first sentence 🐌

  • @matthewbadger8685
    @matthewbadger8685 Жыл бұрын

    What is the source of the art used at 9:14 ?

  • @JulioCesar-ez6wf
    @JulioCesar-ez6wf Жыл бұрын

    THE WAY YOU PRONOUNCE TROCHANTER IS SIMPLY A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!😂

  • @zoology7764
    @zoology7764 Жыл бұрын

    Nice video as always but can please make a video about purrusauraus or rimasuchus

  • @reuireuiop0
    @reuireuiop0 Жыл бұрын

    That big jaw head looks so familiar Like man, here come the 4 legged T Rex

  • @jacobdawn4735
    @jacobdawn4735 Жыл бұрын

    this creature is so funny

  • @bkjeong4302
    @bkjeong430211 ай бұрын

    This thing always gets me because that set of jaws and teeth seem like overkill for even the largest dicynodonts in its ecosystem.

  • @AndyR1982
    @AndyR1982 Жыл бұрын

    Tyranogator doesn't exis.... well damn.

  • @mechanwhal6590
    @mechanwhal6590 Жыл бұрын

    Non dinosaurs can be no end of fascinating.

  • @mhdfrb9971
    @mhdfrb9971 Жыл бұрын

    Middle Triassic Apex land predator

  • @Titus-as-the-Roman
    @Titus-as-the-Roman3 ай бұрын

    'Ole Big Head Fred shall be my Favored Mount into Battle.

  • @RafuStudio
    @RafuStudio Жыл бұрын

    10 bucks the paleontologist first mistook this animal as a triassic tyrannosaur for its head shape.

  • @Dr.IanPlect

    @Dr.IanPlect

    Жыл бұрын

    How would you settle the bet?

  • @chimerasuchus

    @chimerasuchus

    Жыл бұрын

    Erythrosuchus and Tyrannosaurus were actually found during the same year.

  • @daniell1483
    @daniell1483 Жыл бұрын

    It really seems like Earth has been dominated by reptiles for the majority of Earth's history. In our current mammal dominated world, it seems so alien and fascinating.

  • @chimerasuchus

    @chimerasuchus

    Жыл бұрын

    Erythroscuhus lived not long after reptiles became the dominant large animals. For the tens of millions of years prior, otherworld had been dominated by synapsids, the proto-mammals.

  • @richardorta8960
    @richardorta8960 Жыл бұрын

    what is this things projected bite force?

  • @chimerasuchus

    @chimerasuchus

    Жыл бұрын

    No study has been done to estimate it yet.

  • @Da_Publick
    @Da_Publick Жыл бұрын

    Natural Selection: "Okay, now I'll take that big narrow head, and give it a body to match."

  • @mliittsc63
    @mliittsc63 Жыл бұрын

    I've never heard "trochanter" pronounced like that. Not saying it's wrong, but the only way I've ever heard it was TroKanter.

  • @josephgratzer
    @josephgratzer Жыл бұрын

    I am a postosuchus fan

  • @JustClaude13
    @JustClaude137 ай бұрын

    I would probably restore Erythrosuchus with filamentous feathers. The prevalence of such covering in later archosaurs indicates that feather like structures are an ancestral feature.

  • @dewinmoonl
    @dewinmoonl8 ай бұрын

    4:20 hey I've seen specimens of those at my local walmarts

  • @Blues.Fusion
    @Blues.Fusion Жыл бұрын

    Next time how about the purple Barneycus-TVdon.

  • @shakti666
    @shakti666 Жыл бұрын

    glad your speaking skills improved haha

  • @chimerasuchus

    @chimerasuchus

    Жыл бұрын

    Its a different narrator.

  • @HassanMohamed-jy4kk
    @HassanMohamed-jy4kk Жыл бұрын

    Why don’t you think of a suggestion making a KZread Videos all about Geosaurus (A Marine Crocodile and/or A Sea Crocodile) on the Next Chimerasuchus Next Saturday coming up next?!👍👍👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • @catfishcain
    @catfishcain Жыл бұрын

    I miss hearing these videos done by the original narrator.

  • @posticusmaximus1739
    @posticusmaximus17395 ай бұрын

    Proto-ruling lizards! I wonder what the last libing erythrosuchids looked like.

  • @tranwildco1014
    @tranwildco10149 ай бұрын

    This creature is going to be in Netflix's Life on Our Planet.

  • @lucianene7741
    @lucianene7741 Жыл бұрын

    00:50 By looking at their fossils I would say that Mesozioc reptiles had rather fragile skulls with large gaps in their jaw bones. A fracture in that region would have lead to a slow, painful death.

  • @70gabino
    @70gabino Жыл бұрын

    Looks like something out of one of those Doug McClure movies.

  • @pavlovsdogman

    @pavlovsdogman

    Жыл бұрын

    Not another Doug Maclure movie! I hate smeggin Doug Maclure!

  • @justonethrowaway
    @justonethrowaway20 күн бұрын

    bro turned the Big Head mode cheat on😭

  • @IrREZistible
    @IrREZistible Жыл бұрын

    I think this is the thing that's in the end of the 65 flick

  • @3bladeninja21
    @3bladeninja21 Жыл бұрын

    If it chased me I'd laugh at it Right before dying

  • @babyrabies
    @babyrabies Жыл бұрын

    looks like a t-rex on a komodo body

  • @joeyjo-joshabadu9636
    @joeyjo-joshabadu96369 ай бұрын

    Its like someone stuck the head of a T rex on the body of an iguana

  • @nono9543
    @nono9543 Жыл бұрын

    They're so dopey looking to us but along time ago this was normal

  • @junevue9665
    @junevue9665 Жыл бұрын

    Ahhh yes the chibi dinosaur

  • @timetraveler1973
    @timetraveler1973 Жыл бұрын

    ark 2 devs write this down plz

  • @dinos9441
    @dinos9441 Жыл бұрын

    they all died during the Permian extinction because they were funny. But dinosaurs are already normal

  • @chimerasuchus

    @chimerasuchus

    Жыл бұрын

    Erythrosuchus evolved after the Permian.

  • @SepiaChild
    @SepiaChild Жыл бұрын

    The walking crocodile 🐊

  • @rayhanmustakim7073
    @rayhanmustakim7073 Жыл бұрын

    It looks like when God created this thing, He runs out of regular-sized head parts and only has giant-sized heads left for bigger animals.

  • @Dr.IanPlect

    @Dr.IanPlect

    Жыл бұрын

    Mythology aside, evolution accounts for reality.

  • @K.Pershing

    @K.Pershing

    Жыл бұрын

    ​@@Dr.IanPlect you when someone makes a joke: 🤓

  • @Dr.IanPlect

    @Dr.IanPlect

    Жыл бұрын

    @@K.Pershing muted

  • @JeffreyBarkdull
    @JeffreyBarkdull Жыл бұрын

    Was this the only carnivorous Quadruped from the Mesozoic era?

  • @chimerasuchus

    @chimerasuchus

    Жыл бұрын

    No. Many others existed in the Triassic. There were also a number of four legged, terrestrial crocodylomorphs like Razanandrongobe and Baurusuchus in the later two periods.

  • @JeffreyBarkdull

    @JeffreyBarkdull

    Жыл бұрын

    Do you think you could do videos about them @@chimerasuchus?

  • @chimerasuchus

    @chimerasuchus

    Жыл бұрын

    @@JeffreyBarkdull I have.

  • @liviupopescu7551
    @liviupopescu7551 Жыл бұрын

    ✨🏆🏆🏆✨

  • @michalsliwinski6627
    @michalsliwinski6627 Жыл бұрын

    Kiedyś były wspaniałe gady - latające , chodzące , pływające i było pięknie . Niestety wyginęły i w ich miejsce pojawili się ludzie - no i zaczęła się tragedia i trwa do dzisiaj .

  • @grahamstrouse1165
    @grahamstrouse1165 Жыл бұрын

    Stoner gets confused on the way to the head shop…

  • @billcook4768
    @billcook4768 Жыл бұрын

    Don’t be ridiculous. That’s a dewback.

  • @grahamstrouse1165

    @grahamstrouse1165

    Жыл бұрын

    It does look like a Dewback! 😁