A Columbus State professor has created a first of its kind replica of a killer croc that roamed the earth millions of years ago according to a press release from the university.
Dr. David Schwimmer, a world-renowned expert on the giant North American crocodilian genus Deinosuchus and a Columbus State University geology professor, has contributed his research to the creation of the first-ever scholarly accurate, mounted skeleton replica of the species Deinosuchus schwimmeri. Known for decades as a “dinosaur killer,” Deinosuchus was almost certainly the apex predator of its day.
Deinosuchus schwimmeri, which walked the eastern United States 83 million to 76 million years ago, was a dinosaur-eating, school-bus-sized relative of modern alligators. Measuring up to 31 feet (9.45 meters) long, the new Deinosuchus schwimmeri prototype was commissioned by the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, and recently installed there. It marks the culmination of two years of Schwimmer’s consulting with Triebold Paleontology Inc., a leader in fossil skeleton models for museums, universities and attractions around the world.
“Each year, we have thousands of students visit us from across Georgia and neighboring states,” the Tellus Science Museum’s director of education, Hannah Eisla, explained. “Many of these students come on school field trips specifically to learn more about the region they call home and how it has changed over time. The addition of Deinosuchus schwimmeri allows us to provide a more detailed picture of this area’s ecosystem in the Cretaceous Period.”…