Rhamphosuchus is an extinct relative of the modern false gharial

False gharial

The false gharial , also known as the Malayan gharial, false gavial, or Tomistoma is a freshwater crocodile of the Crocodylidae family with a very thin and elongated snout...

. It inhabited what is now the Indian sub-continent in the Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

. It is only known from incomplete sets of fossils, mostly teeth and skulls.

Overview

Traditionally, many palaeontologists estimated that it was one of the largest, if not the largest crocodylian that ever lived, reaching an estimated length of 15 to 18 m (50–60 ft). However, a more recent study suggests that the animal may have been 8–11 m in length, and therefore is not the largest known crocodylian. Another crocodylian, Purussaurus

Purussaurus

Purussaurus is an extinct genus of giant caiman that lived in South America during the Miocene epoch, 8 million years ago. It is known from skull material found in the Brazilian, Colombian and Peruvian Amazonia, and northern Venezuela. The estimated skull length for one large individual of the type...

, from the Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

 of Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

 and Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, is known from an equally incomplete fossil set. It is estimated to have been similar in length to the initial estimates at approximately 12 m. However, this would mean that it would have been somewhat larger in size if the more recent size estimates for Rhamphosuchus are correct. If the most recent estimate is correct, then several other extinct crocodylians also surpassed Rhamphosuchus in length, such as the Late Cretaceous

Late Cretaceous

The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...

 alligatoroid

Alligatoroidea

Alligatoroidea is a superfamily of crocodilians that evolved in the Late Cretaceous period. Cladistically, it is defined as Alligator mississippiensis and all crocodylians more closely related to A. mississippiensis than to either Crocodylus niloticus or Gavialis gangeticus ....

 Deinosuchus

Deinosuchus

Deinosuchus is an extinct genus related to the alligator that lived 73 to 80 Ma , during the late Cretaceous period. The name translates as "terrible crocodile" and is derived from the Greek deinos , "terrible", and soukhos , "crocodile"...

, the Early Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

 pholidosaurid

Pholidosauridae

Pholidosauridae is an extinct family of mesoeucrocodylian crocodylomorphs. Fossils have been found in the United States, Canada, China, Kyrgyzstan, Africa and Spain...

 Sarcosuchus

Sarcosuchus

Sarcosuchus is an extinct genus of crocodyliform and distant relative of the crocodile that lived 112 million years ago. It dates from the early Cretaceous Period of what is now Africa and is one of the largest giant crocodile-like reptiles that ever lived...

, the Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

 gavialid

Gavialidae

Gavialidae is a family of reptiles within the order Crocodilia. Gavialidae consists of only one surviving species, the gharial , which is native to India. Many extinct species are also known...

 Gryposuchus

Gryposuchus

Gryposuchus is an extinct genus of gavialoid crocodilian. It is the type genus of the subfamily Gryposuchinae. Fossils have been found from Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and the Peruvian Amazon. The genus existed during the early and middle Miocene epoch. One recently described species, G...

and the strange planctivorous Mourasuchus

Mourasuchus

Mourasuchus is an extinct genus of giant crocodilian from the Miocene of South America. It was similar in length and weight to Rhamphosuchus...

(a contemporary of Purussaurus), at 12 m, 11–12 m, 10.15 m, and 12 m, respectively.

Rhamphosuchus probably had a more generalized predatory diet than the piscivory of other tomistomines.