A 31-foot predator that once hunted dinosaurs across what is now the eastern United States has been reconstructed in scientifically accurate, life-size form for the first time.
Dr. David Schwimmer, a Columbus State University geology professor and internationally recognized authority on the giant North American crocodilian genus Deinosuchus, contributed decades of research to the creation of the first scholarly accurate mounted skeleton replica of Deinosuchus schwimmeri. Often described as a “dinosaur-killer,” the enormous reptile was almost certainly the leading predator in its ecosystem.
A School Bus-Sized Predator Returns
Deinosuchus schwimmeri lived in the eastern United States between 83 million and 76 million years ago. Although it resembled an enormous alligator, it belonged to an ancient lineage of crocodilians, the broader group that includes modern crocodiles, alligators, caimans, and gharials.
The animal could grow as long as 31 feet (9.45 meters), roughly the length of a school bus. Its immense size and powerful jaws would have made it capable of attacking dinosaurs and other large animals that approached the water.
The new prototype was commissioned by the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, where it was recently installed. Its completion followed two years of consultation between Schwimmer and Triebold Paleontology Inc., a company that creates 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.”
The Cretaceous Period was the final major chapter of the dinosaur age. During that time, much of the landscape, coastline, and wildlife of North America looked dramatically different from what exists today.
“Tellus is currently the only museum to have a cast of Deinosuchus schwimmeri, so this is an experience our visitors can’t get anywhere else,” added Rebecca Melsheimer, the museum’s curatorial coordinator. “The scale of the dinosaurs and other creatures that lived during [the Late Cretaceous epoch] is hard to capture in words or pictures. We can tell you that Deinosuchus is 30 feet long, but seeing it is far more impactful.”
A Species Named for Decades of Research
Paleontologists formally identified the “terror croc” as a distinct species in 2020 and named it Deinosuchus schwimmeri in Schwimmer’s honor. The recognition followed years of fossil analysis, scientific publications, conference presentations, and his influential 2002 book about the giant crocodilian.
In their study, published by the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology in July 2020, the researchers said the name recognized “his tireless work on the Late Cretaceous paleontology of the Southeast and Eastern Seaboard, USA.”
Schwimmer has spent more than four decades searching for, excavating, and studying fossils belonging to Deinosuchus schwimmeri. National Geographic grants supported some of his field expeditions in Alabama, Georgia, and Texas.
The specimens he recovered are now permanently preserved in major repository museums. These institutions carefully store and maintain scientifically important fossils so they remain available for future research. The collections include the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Tellus Science Museum.
Rebuilding Deinosuchus From Fossil Evidence
Constructing an accurate, full-scale replica involves far more than enlarging a drawing or arranging generic bones into a dramatic pose. Scientists must compare known fossils, determine how individual bones connected, and reconstruct missing portions using evidence from related animals.
For the Deinosuchus schwimmeri project, the Triebold Paleontology team produced high-resolution 3D scans of fossil records. Those digital models helped the team rearticulate, or correctly reconnect, the animal’s skeleton and detailed dermal armor.
Dermal armor refers to hard, bony plates embedded within the skin. In crocodilians, these protective structures are often called osteoderms and form the armored surface visible along the back.
Schwimmer said the completed mount does more than give museum visitors a sense of the animal’s intimidating size. By presenting the skeleton as a connected structure, it can also help paleontologists examine its anatomy and better understand how the predator lived.
“These replicas are more than just creating a ‘scare factor,'” Schwimmer explained. “Understanding dinosaurs’ predatory habits helps us decode some of nature’s greatest survival strategies. By studying these ancient apex predators, we are essentially looking back in time to see exactly how life adapted and dominated a changing world.”
Research Decades in the Making
Schwimmer’s interest in Deinosuchus began during his childhood in New York City. He grew up only 10 blocks from the American Museum of Natural History, where a frightening skull display first captured his imagination.
He discovered his first Deinosuchus fossil remains in 1979 — a year after joining Columbus State (then Columbus College). Since then, much of his research has centered on reconstructing the animal’s biology, behavior, and prehistoric environment.
His work has made him a leading expert on the Late Cretaceous epoch (100.5 million years ago to 66 million years ago) in the southeastern United States. Research he began in the 1980s also produced evidence of several important paleontological firsts in Georgia, including the state’s first known flying reptiles (pterodactyls), dinosaurs and Deinosuchus.
The term pterodactyl is commonly used for the flying reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs, although these animals were not dinosaurs themselves. They belonged to a separate group known as pterosaurs.
The Book That Shaped Modern Deinosuchus Research
Schwimmer — who once worked as a science writer for pioneering ocean explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau — summarized the first 20 years of his discoveries in his 2002 book, “King of the Crocodylians: The Paleobiology of Deinosuchus.”
The book became an Amazon top seller in its category for several weeks. It was also chosen as a book of the month by science-focused reading groups, including one organized by the Discovery Educator Network.
Schwimmer is now updating the book. His original work helped shape scientific understanding of Deinosuchus and other Mesozoic animals found in Georgia, while also building his international reputation as a paleontology scholar.
His expertise has since been sought by institutions including Atlanta’s Fernbank Museum of Natural History, the University of Texas’ Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory, and the Tellus Museum. He has advised these organizations on fossil collections and educational exhibits.
Bite Marks and Fossilized Dung Reveal Ancient Life
In 2010, two Deinosuchus-related fossil studies brought Schwimmer international attention. One examined bite marks preserved on dinosaur bones, offering physical evidence of interactions between the giant crocodilian and dinosaurs.
The other investigated fossilized dung, known scientifically as coprolites. Coprolites can preserve clues about an ancient animal’s diet, digestive system, and environment.
That research was conducted by Samantha (Harrell) Stanford, a 2010 undergraduate environmental science and geology major supervised by Schwimmer. The studies were presented in the special symposium volume of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, an internationally recognized publication, and at the March 2010 Geological Society of America Northeastern-Southeastern Annual Meeting. Harrell was credited with contributing to both projects.
Major Discoveries Close to Home
Schwimmer said paleontology and other natural, Earth and space sciences can give students at regional universities opportunities to conduct meaningful “backyard research.” Important fossil sites do not always require travel to distant deserts or remote continents. In some cases, major discoveries may be waiting close to campus.
He also noted that smaller institutions can provide students with direct access to faculty mentors and hands-on field research.
“[Harrell] came out in the field and collected fossils with me. At most universities, undergraduates rarely collaborate on or publish peer-reviewed research. Institutions of our size provide undergraduate students like Samantha with greater one-on-one access to faculty mentors and field-based research opportunities like this that, while local, are still quite impactful on the field,” Schwimmer said.
Several known Deinosuchus sites lie within 40 miles of Columbus. Those nearby fossil beds have provided Schwimmer and generations of student researchers with a rich source of discoveries.
Their proximity also makes the Tellus Science Museum an especially fitting home for one of the first Deinosuchus fossil replicas. The display allows visitors to see an animal that once dominated the same broader region millions of years before modern Georgia existed.
“Bones and fossils tell us only part of the story,” Schwimmer concluded. “Fully assembled, life-size replicas become a blueprint for better understanding the dynamic animals that creatures like Deinosuchus really were.”