Species: Deinosuchus riograndensis
Formation: Aguja Formation
Locality: Brewster County, Texas
Age: Campanian Cretaceous, 82-77 million years old
A Cretaceous Deinosuchus riograndensis Tooth Fossil, measuring approximately 1.17" in Matrix (in situ) from the Upper Aguja Formation in Brewster County, Texas.
Deinosuchus was a genus of massive Alligatoroid Crocodilians which lived in the Late Cretaceous period and likely inhabited Brackish water bays.
The species Deinosuchis riograndensis is thought to have reached lengths of 35-39 feet long, weighing over 18,500 pounds and have a bite force upwards of 23,000 pounds according to some estimates, over 3 times the maximum estimated bite force of the largest currently living crocodilians. This was more than enough to hunt its theorized prey, large cretaceous dinosaurs.
Though still a subject of debate, Deinosuchus riograndensis is thought by many to have been the largest crocodilian to have ever existed.