Mourasuchus

Due to the fragmentary remains of Mourasuchus the body size is difficult to determine. Mourasuchus skulls range up to a meter (3.3 ft) in length, with the holotype skull of M. pattersoni being 108.1 centimetres (42.6 in) long while that of M. arendsi could reach a length of 108.5 centimetres (42.7 in) long. The largest skull belongs to M. amazonensis at 113.5 centimetres (44.7 in). In a 2020 study, Cidade et al. attempted to determine the body sizes of the four recognized Mourasuchus species based on the head: body ratio of modern genera like Caiman latirostris and Alligator mississippiensis. Their results recovered a mean body size of 6.3 m (21 ft) and 1.2 metric tons (1.3 short tons) for M. atopus, the smallest species, and upwards of 9.5 m (31 ft) and 4.4 metric tons (4.9 short tons) for M. amazonensis.[13] However, a later study contradicted these results. In 2022 Paiva and colleagues argued that the dorsal cranial length was a poor basis for size estimates compared to the width of the skull. Additionally, they found that prior studies commonly included juvenile animals in their data, muddying the results. This study calculated a length between 2.5–3.1 m (8 ft 2 in – 10 ft 2 in) for Mourasuchus atopus, 3.8–4.8 m (12–16 ft) for Mourasuchus arendsi, 4.3–5.5 m (14–18 ft) for Mourasuchus pattersoni and for Mourasuchus amazoniensis, the largest species, 4.7–5.98 m (15.4–19.6 ft). These results were achieved by specifically restricting the dataset to extant species of caimans, while calculations using measurements from all of Crocodilia generally rendered greater sizes but may be overestimates. Still, the authors note that the generally smaller stature of modern caimans may have influenced the results in a similar fashion.[14]

Mourasuchus atopus size

Much like with the unrelated but morphologically similar Stomatosuchidae, the feeding ecology of Mourasuchus is enigmatic and poorly understood, with a variety of hypotheses having been proposed to make sense of its specialized anatomy. With slender and short mandibular rami and perfectly occluding, slender and almost homodont teeth, Mourasuchus was not built to capture and hold prey like modern crocodilians.[8][5] In his 1965 publication on the crocodilians of Cenozoic Columbia, Langston proposed three ideas on how Mourasuchus may have fed. He suggests that it may have waited with opened jaws for approaching prey, fed on aquatic and floating plant material or searched for prey by sifting through substrate at the bottom of bodies of water.[5] While his other hypothesis have gone without much attention, the later of the three has been discussed by later publications, referring to this ecology as either "filter feeding", "straining technique" or "gulp feeding". Cidade et al. follow Langston's proposed feeding hypothesis, speculating that Mourasuchus may have fed on small invertebrates, mollusks, crustaceans, and small fish, specializing in trying to ingest as much prey at once as possible. This they suggest explains the platyrostral-broad skull morphology, which differs from the usual crocodilian skull morphology that typically either favors longirostrine forms providing speediness or robust-snouted forms with increased bite force.[8] Langston also proposed a throat pouch based on comments Franz Nopsca made regarding Stomatosuchus, however there is no evidence for such a structure in Mourasuchus nor is its presence certain in stomatosuchids. As the prey Mourasuchus would have fed on in accordance with the straining technique hypothesis would likely be found either in free water or substrate, the animal would have also captured inedible material during feeding. For this a type of filtering mechanism or behavior would be beneficial, however nothing indicating as much has been found so far. Due to the absence of evidence for actual filtering, Cidade et al. instead favors the term "gulp feeding" for Mourasuchus hypothetical hunting behavior.

In a 2020 study Cidade et al. aimed to determine Mourasuchus ability to perform the death roll, a crucial behavior observed in modern crocodiles and alligators that is commonly observed during feeding, when crocodiles rapidly spin to rip pieces of flesh from their prey. The study calculated a very low "death roll" capability indicator (DRCI) similar to that seen in the Slender Snouted Crocodile, Indian Gharial and False Gharial, which suggests that Mourasuchus was very unlikely to be able to perform the death roll.

Mourasuchus lived during an era of great crocodilian diversity in South America, being found in environments shared with genera inhabiting a diverse set of niches. In the Peruvian Pebas Formation M. atopus was found alongside the large bodied Purussaurus neivensis, a medium-sized species of Gryposuchus, G. pachakamue and three distinct taxa of durophagous caimans. The later species M. arendsi coexisted with an even greater host of contemporary crocodilians in the Urumaco Formation, sharing its habitat with the larger Purussaurus mirandai, several large-bodied gharials, multiple durophagous caimans and the true crocodile Charactosuchus. In some areas such as the Urumaco and Solimões Formation multiple species of Mourasuchus are known, with the former being home to both M. pattersoni and M. arendsi while the later has yielded M. arendsi and M. amazonensis.[8] The great diversity of crocodylomorphs in these Miocene-age (Tortonian stage, 8 million years ago) wetlands suggests that niche partitioning was efficient, which would have limited interspecific competition.[16]