CHimerasuchus: Interesting YouTube Channel
As some readers know, I have a strong interest in many topics beyond my official area of expertise. While there are some good channels about Paleontology on YouTube, too many of them focus on already famous and “sexy” animal groups such as Dinosaurs. A few months ago, I came across a YouTube channel with a focus on much less famous, but equally important, group of Archosaurs- the Pseudosuchia or anything that is an archosaur (living or extinct) but is closer to a crocodile than dinosaurs and birds.
While many readers might know this, the first crocodilians were largely terrestrial and fast-running animals who dominated most of Triassic Period (252-201 million years ago). They were almost certainly at least partially Endothermic and had proper four-chambered hearts. Dinosaurs, the other main group of terrestrial archosaurs in that period only started becoming successful after the Carnian pluvial episode (234-232 million years ago) and became the dominant land fauna only at the very end of the Triassic Period, which led to the Jurrasic and then the Cretaceous.
It is worth noting that, during he Triassic, these terrestrial Crocodilians occupied the same ecological niche as Dinosaurs and many had similar body shapes to the more famous dinosaurs- due to convergent evolution. While Dinosaurs, and environmental changes, did cause their decline towards the end of Triassic- they never really went away. The aquatic and amphibious descendants of crocodilians continued were very successful from the Triassic and Jurassic to the present day. Even the terrestrial ones, though over shadowed by dinosaurs, survived the K-T extinction and remained apex predators in some parts of the world until a few million years ago or even later. Examples include Boverisuchus, Barinasuchus and Quinkana.
Here is a link to the channel- CHimerasuchus
#1 : Borealosuchus- The Crocodilian That Outlived The Dinosaurs
#2 : Barinasuchus- The Largest Terrestrial Predator During The Age Of Mammals.
#3 : Dentaneosuchus-The Largest Carnivore of Cenozoic Europe
What do you think? Comments?