Aetosaurs: Herbivorous Crocodile Relatives

[@redgrain3914]

I love how these things literally looked like exactly how they incorrectly portrayed dinosaurs for the first 80 years.

[@muhamadsayyidabidin3906]

I always said to people who don't like the idea of some dinosaurs are covered in feathers with 'just look at Triassic crocodilomorph, you'll like it'.

[@nievedechicharron4837]

@@muhamadsayyidabidin3906 ♥

[@Piriphu]

@@muhamadsayyidabidin3906 Can confirm, hate how birdlike dinosaurs are now, but instead of complaining about it and denying science, I've just shifted interest to pseudosuchians lol

[@robbybeckmeyer828]

No dragging tail tho

[@N0sf3r4tuR1s3n]

And the predatory ones as well. I like both the pseudosuchian branch and avemetatarsalia, but yeah the Triassic was a trippy time. And that's not even mentioning some of the other weird stuff back then...

[@alioramus1637]

The late triassic was like a big battle royale with no way of knowing which radiation of archosaur would come out on top. Quality video once again. An underrated channel.

[@dr.polaris6423]

Thank you so much!

[@jaffacalling53]

People often forget that crocodilians and their close relatives diversified in a manner similar to the dinosaurs several times from the Triassic all the way until recent history. It is just that the currently existing species only fill a couple of different ecological niches now.

[@ZentaBon]

That is SO cool that they had SUCH diversity. It's hard to see them in that light when what we have are all carnivorous.

[@dr.polaris6423]

I know, it strange to consider that modern Crocodilians have extinct herbivorous relatives.

[@bartolomeorizzo]

@@dr.polaris6423 if i recall correctly some crocodilians (maybe caimans) eat large portions of fruit that falls from trees hanging over rivers

[@Sawrattan]

@@bartolomeorizzo I was just wondering if it's possible for us to ever trick some crocodiles into evolving into an omnivorous branch like bears, initially by dangling fruit and veg around them to imitate prey.

[@bartolomeorizzo]

@@Sawrattan of course it is possible

[@Stothehighest]

You def need to team up with Moth Light Media. Thanks for talking about the underrepresented ancient animals! I'd never even heard of this group before.

[@Tsotha]

those 2, along with Ben G. Thomas and PBS Eons, are my go-to channels for videos about weird and obscure prehistoric animals

[@colinkennedy1061]

This channel does not get nearly the recognition it deserves, keep up the hard work and I'm sure your efforts will be rewarded. Your depth of knowledge on these animals as well as their taxonomical relations to others is almost unparalleled on this website

[@erichtomanek4739]

Convergent evolution is a wonderful thing. And so are your videos.

[@gerhardkraider]

We have some of the best preserved Aetusaurus fossiles in the Stuttgart, Germany; Paratypothorax andressi, and Aetosaurus ferratus. It´s nice to see these fascinating animals getting some recognition!

[@IvanlyChannel]

i'm always happy to find a new good paleo channel

[@sera7966]

Your content is incredibly informative and well paced. This channel deserves a lot more subscribers than it has now, that's for sure. Hope more people discover this treasure trove.

[@oskarhaggmark5208]

I usually don't comment but I just have to say that seeing you videos in my inbox always makes me happy! Thank you again!

[@dr.polaris6423]

Great to hear it!

[@seanmckelvey6618]

The similarities between many Triassic pseudosuchians and later Dinosaurs is probably one of my favorite examples of convergent evolution. I can't help but think that if conditions had been just slightly different we would have seen them essentially develop the same kinds of forms and niches as the dinosaurs. In an alternate timeline what we know as dinosaurs could have been croc line archosaurs and not bird line. Amazing to ponder.

[@dr.polaris6423]

That's certainly an interesting idea to consider!

[@thelaughinghyenas8465]

Sean McKelvey, I was wondering the exact same thing myself. A few million years difference in the timing of the end Triassic land breakup and we could have a very different world.

[@dynamosaurusimperious6341]

Aetosaurus surd sound like an amazing prehistoric crocodile from the far past. And thay's quite nice,also nice video

[@dr.polaris6423]

Thanks!

[@silvertheelf]

Dynamosaurus Imperious, we meet again...

[@Tsotha]

their name makes me think of Aetius, the Roman general who defeated Attila's huns

[@joakos1122]

Great content! Thanks 😊

[@dr.polaris6423]

My pleasure!

[@cedricrobertson2893]

I had been binging your channel fornhours now, take responsability

[@batspidey7611]

They were the ankylosaurs of their time.

[@dr.polaris6423]

They certainly were!

[@chancegivens9390]

Yee yee!

[@Ahturos]

Crocodiles to the Dinosaurs. "I did it before it was cool."

[@pocketpicker6613]

Hipstersaurs

[@jamessmilus321]

Aetosaurs and armored dinosaurs differed in many ways.

[@Croationman]

So lucky I found this channel

[@dr.polaris6423]

Thanks, really appreciate it!

[@Croationman]

@@dr.polaris6423 Absolutely my friend. LOVE the content please keep it up.

[@tonysolano9399]

I love the intro music

[@kurodiggs]

Aetosaurs are the crocodilians that never get invitations to family gatherings, but come anyway.

[@peterolesen3567]

Do you think you could make a video examining parareptiles? They are probably the most overlooked group of prehistoric amniotes.

[@dr.polaris6423]

That's a great idea!

[@davidbarkin8269]

Couldn't hear a thing. The commercial was audible, but Polaris wasn't. I shut it down ASAP.

[@aaronbrooks6958]

Great video. Very informative.

[@cstorm7505]

Perhaps you could do an episode on beardogs or Amphicyonidae? They're my favourite group of animals and often overlooked!

[@dr.polaris6423]

Great idea, I was always planning on covering them in the future.

[@thelaughinghyenas8465]

Really cool, thanks! I learned a lot about these fascinating animals. What do you think of the theory that aetosaurs couldn't compete in the lower oxygen levels due to Carrier's constraint?

[@dr.polaris6423]

It's certainly interesting, given that they lacked the advanced respiration capabilities of Theropods and Sauropodomorphs.

[@casper6405]

Imagine if the crocodilians instead of the dinosaurs became the dominant species

[@vassa1972]

Interesting

[@theharris7207]

Awesome video

[@KrazyKaiser]

I feel like you need to up the volume on your videos by at least 30%, always find myself cranking up my volume when I put on one of your videos.

[@dr.polaris6423]

I can see what you mean and I'll raise the volume in future videos.

[@crimesartbalaur]

Whenever I look into Aetosaur phylogeny it sets me off so much... Why does subfamily Typothoracinae have to be INSIDE of subfamily Aetosaurinae??? Why is superfamily Stagonolepidoidea still used as a synonym for Desmatosuchia when it's INSIDE of family Stagonolepidae??? Ahhhhhhhhhhh if I could just change the suffixes of the top three groups it would f***ing fine but nooooooo we have to clusterf*** Linnaean names... I hope I go back to forgetting this soon :,)

[@eljanrimsa5843]

I like the Texas longhorn thing.

[@Supersaurus4]

Never knew Crocs had relatives that were vegetarians

[@Jojozilla426]

Am I the only one who thought this just was gonna be a short animation?

[@jimmyshrimbe9361]

Awesome video man! I don't think I could ever eat a saurus, though. You really think you could?

[@edwardfletcher7790]

01:09 The line drawn illustration is completely outdated and incorrect. They've drawn a carnivorous crocodilian analog. The drawing makes no account of the herbivorous gut requirements. The 01:42 colour illustrations much better represent the actual size and appearance. The life size recreation at 04:39 is very inaccurate as well. The wide variety of these illustrations with only a few truly correct representations shows that too many of the artists are influenced by crocodilians when creating their work.

[@technoraptor7778]

I forgot about these guys! The ankylodiles haha

[@dr.polaris6423]

That's a good name for them!

[@paolopasaol9700]

To be fair, only recently was it known that some Crocodilians enjoy the occasional fruity snacks

[@thedarkmasterthedarkmaster]

oooh, going into gompotheres. Beware the muddy nature of those of South America, very contentious there.

[@dr.polaris6423]

Yeah there’s been a lot of debate surrounding South American Gomphotheres.

[@thedarkmasterthedarkmaster]

@@dr.polaris6423 I was just careful to mention all the genera that were at the time considered valid

[@tuxuhds6955]

0:39 Was just about to say: This is an Ankylosuchus if I've ever saw one!

[@hailgiratinathetruegod7564]

I have a question about the trisaic massextinction, I never understood. How did the early sauropdamorphs survive it. They were for their time massive herbivores, the exact kind of animal that shoudn'T survive. For earley theropods and ornithischians make sense to survive, with their relative smal sizes.

[@dr.polaris6423]

I think it may have had something to do with their advanced respiration capabilities, given that their bones were hollow and they likely possessed the air sack system that their later relatives had.

[@hailgiratinathetruegod7564]

@@dr.polaris6423 I understand this advantages, but woudn't the major threath to their survival be the lack of food sources. Which is why only smaler animals or animals which don't need much food survive. And in particular the big herbivores, with their high ammount of food, and slow generation times the most likely animals to die out are.

[@jasonsantos3037]

On how much reptiles changing bulb in the crocodile family is no different

[@Filbi]

Armored pig lizards!

[@connorflaherty175]

I have often said that aetosaurs had piglike faces.

[@jamessmilus321]

Maybe we are not getting something. Maybe they did mostly diggjng and eating roots and tubers more than they did eating leaves and ferns? Cause pigs also do that. Compared to ankylosaurs which din not root things.

[@shockal7269]

6:36 Why do these models look like those cheap plastic dino toys

[@kaiserreichempireofohio834]

7:02 Everything's bigger in Texas...

[@xuanluu4873]

What could the jurassic and cretaceous have been like with these pseudosuchians dominating instead of dinosaurs?

[@silvertheelf]

Minor complaint: they spelled Revueltosaurus wrong, the u comes before the e. Just a minor correction. 2:09 You might notify them, lol

[@tristanwilliams4180]

so basically, the Crocs didnt have there veggies??

[@amayajackson4818]

They're so ugly that they're cute!

[@elijahglasser1421]

Mew dinosaurs everywhere

[@senseitauntaun4283]

Looks like a precursor to the stegosaurus branch to me!

[@knightshade6232]

I never thought crocs are vegans

[@dr.polaris6423]

Quite a few of their extinct relatives were strictly vegetarian!

[@ANTSEMUT1]

@@dr.polaris6423 at least they aren't annoying as human vegans hehehe 😜😜😜

[@Fossilsunleashed]

keep dreaming youll get there in your own mind