page_title: Sarcosuchus
section_title: Osteoderms
hierarchical_section_title: Sarcosuchus / Description / Osteoderms
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Fossil of Sarcosuchus, an extinct reptile- Took the photo at Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia
context_page_description: Sarcosuchus is an extinct genus of crocodyliform and distant relative of living crocodylians that lived during the Early Cretaceous, from the late Hauterivian to the early Albian, 133-112 million years ago of what is now Africa and South America. It was one of the largest crocodile-line reptiles, reaching an average estimate of 9 meters and 3.5 tonnes but estimated to grow up to 9.5 m in body length and weigh up to 4.3 tonnes. It is known from two species, S. imperator from the early Albian Elrhaz Formation of Niger and S. hartti from the Late Hauterivian of north-east 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.
context_section_description: The osteoderms, also known as dermal scutes, of Sarcosuchus were similar to those goniopholodids like Sunosuchus and Goniopholis; they formed an uninterrupted surface that started in the posterior part of the neck up to the middle of the tail like is seen in Araripesuchus and other basal crocodyliforms, different from the pattern seen in living crocodiles, which present discontinuity between the osteoderms of the neck and body.
caption: Scutes of S. imperator
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot SX240 HS", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2013:02:08 14:18:10", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2306", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "9184", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11076", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/8", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "1600", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity and Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:12:28 11:30:57", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:12:28 11:30:57", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "3", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "833/100", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2944", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1691", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "4000", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "3000", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "9008", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1000000/61", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1000000/61", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "BA79D849A7BA4FC9ACB2C31DC1224700", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": "", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "4156"}