100px|Artist's rendering of Deinosuchus rugosus
Deinosuchus is an extinct relative of the alligator that lived 80 to 73 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period. The name is derived from the Greek δεινός/deinos ("terrible") and σουχος/soukhos ("crocodile"). Although Deinosuchus was far larger than any modern crocodile or alligator—measuring up to 12 m (40 ft) and weighing up to 8.5 metric tons (9.4 short tons)—its overall appearance was fairly similar to its smaller relatives. It had large, robust teeth that were built for crushing, and its back was covered with thick semispherical osteoderms. One study indicates that Deinosuchus may have lived for up to 50 years, growing at a similar rate to that of modern crocodilians, but maintaining this growth over a much longer period of time. Deinosuchus fossils have been found in ten U.S. states, as well as northern Mexico. It lived on both sides of the Western Interior Seaway, and was an opportunistic apex predator in the coastal regions of eastern North America. Deinosuchus reached its largest size in its western habitat, but the eastern populations were far more abundant. Deinosuchus was probably capable of killing and eating large dinosaurs. It may have also fed upon sea turtles, fish, and other aquatic and terrestrial prey. (more...)
Recently featured: 1991 Perfect Storm – The Human Centipede (First Sequence) – Manchester United F.C.
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinosuchus
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1889:
The Dakota Territory, an organized incorporated territory of the United States, was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Dakota
1936:
The BBC Television Service launched as the world's first regular, public all-electronic high-definition television service. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_One
1949:
The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference ended with the Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to the United States of Indonesia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch%E2%80%93Indonesian_Round_Table_Conference
1960:
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales acquitted publisher Penguin Books of obscenity in the publishing of Lady Chatterly's Lover by D. H. Lawrence . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Chatterly%27s_Lover
1963:
President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam was assassinated, marking the culmination of a coup d'état led by Duong Van Minh. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrest_and_assassination_of_Ngo_Dinh_Diem
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
unsub (n): Abbreviation of unknown subject of an investigation http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unsub
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Being desirous of allaying the dissensions of party strife now existing within our realm, I do hereby dissolve and abolish the Democratic and Republican parties, and also do hereby decree the disfranchisement and imprisonment, for not more than 10, nor less than five, years, to all persons leading to any violation of this our imperial decree. --Joshua A. Norton http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joshua_A._Norton