Deinosuchus was an enormous relative of modern crocodiles that lived in North America roughly 82 to 75 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous.
An ambush predator on a huge scale
Large Deinosuchus individuals are estimated to have reached around 10 meters (33 ft) long, more than twice the length of the largest modern crocodiles. Its bite would have been correspondingly powerful — fossil evidence includes dinosaur bones bearing puncture marks matched to Deinosuchus teeth, suggesting it was capable of attacking prey as large as dinosaurs that came too close to the water's edge.
Not a true crocodile
Deinosuchus wasn't a crocodile in the modern sense — it belonged to an earlier, related branch of the crocodilian family tree that had already split off from the ancestors of today's alligators and crocodiles. Its skull was proportionally broader and its teeth more rounded than a modern crocodile's, likely suited to crushing as well as gripping.
Living alongside dinosaurs
Deinosuchus lived in coastal swamps and river systems, sharing its world with duck-billed dinosaurs and other Late Cretaceous animals — many of which were almost certainly on its menu when they came too close to the water.