#echkar formation

Pseudosuchian Laganosuchus thaumastos, of Late Cretaceous, Niger!

Laganosuchus thaumastos was a stomatosuchid crocodyliform from Late Cretaceous Niger. Like its much larger relative, Stomatosuchus, Laganosuchus had wide, flat jaws earning it the name “pancake crocodile”. It had small, simple, straight teeth, and likely would not have used them to bite onto large prey. Due to the length of their jaws, and the drag that would be present in the water, they also would not have been able to snap their jaws shut or open very quickly. Instead, they may have fed by waiting on lake or river bottoms, motionless, with their mouths open, for curious fish to wander inside, and then closed their mouths around them. Their spike-like teeth would have fit together tightly, preventing any escape. Or, they may have had a gular pouch and hunted like a pelican or whale, scooping fish up in their pouch and using the surface of the water to trap them inside their pouch. Laganosuchus is only known from a fossil of its lower jaws, so unfortunately not much else is known about its behavior, and the rest of its appearance can only be inferred from its relatives.

Laganosuchus thaumastos was found in the Echkar Formation of Niger. It would have lived alongside a diverse array of pseudosuchians here, including the terrestrial rat-like Araripesuchus rattoides, the aquatic gharial-like Elosuchus and Fortignathus, and the semiaquatic Kaprosuchus (which was once assumed to be terrestrial). It would have come across dinosaurs like the sauropods Aegyptosaurus and Rebbachisaurus, and theropods like Bahariasaurus, Inosaurus, Rugops, and Spinosaurus. Another species of Laganosuchus, L. maghrebensis, is known from the Kem Kem Beds of Morocco.