Species:
Suchomimus tenerensisLength: 38 feet
Height: 16 feet
Location: North Africa
Time Period: Early Cretaceous (121 - 112 MYA)
Movies: Jurassic Park 3 (mentioned)
Games: Warpath: Jurassic Park
Suchomimus tenerensis ("crocodile mimic") was a genus of large spinosaurid theropod from the Lower Cretaceous Period, about 121 million years ago. Discovered and named in 1998, fossils of this crocodile-jawed dinosaur have so far been found in the Sahara Desert of Northern Africa.
In contrary to the designs of most theropod skulls,
Suchomimus' particular skull was built more like that of a crocodile, more specifically the gharial of India. It also bore numerous similarities to fellow spinosaurids
Baryonyx and
Spinosaurus, in that it most likely fed on fish, and that it sported a low, extended snout, a set of large razor claws seemingly designed with fish-catching in mind, and a ridge along its back (which, in the case of
Spinosaurus, ended up as a huge flippin' sail).
Role in Jurassic Park:
Suchomimus first appeared in the PSX video game Warpath: Jurassic Park as one of the many dinosaurs available from the start. It was portrayed as being larger than the majority of the other carnivores, such as
Tyrannosaurus and
Acrocanthosaurus, and just as vicious.
Its second and most recent appearance in the franchise was much smaller. In Jurassic Park 3, when trying to identify the large spinosaurid that had torn their plane to shreds mere minutes ago (which was actually
Spinosaurus), Billy first suggested
Suchomimus to be the predator. However, Grant was quick to discredit the possibility, telling Billy to "think bigger".
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Former former... former... former... yeah, you get the idea.