"What's a crocodile crossed with an armadillo?" Topic

Why, a crocadillo of course! Actually, paleontolgists recently unveiled a strange new crocodile with armadillo-like body armor. Seems a cool creature to encounter in a lost world, so here's hoping some minis manufacturer sculps one.

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2 meters long, 120 kgs and a huge maw lined with razor sharp teeth! Definitely not something you'd like to meet in a dark alley, or deep, dark jungle. If we "assume" that the armor can protect it from most handgun rounds, we have a very capable threat.

Not too long ago we thought that the colacanth (sp) was extinct only to "find" it again… Wonder if this still wanders some jungle.

Also, sharp teeth and body armor; how the heck did this become extinct?

"Good doggie."

OK, I love this critter – perfect fit for some ideas I've got.

Find me some artwork depicting the critter with flesh on the bones, and I'll have it sculpted for my Forge of Ice.

-Alex

My first thought was 'a shocking misuse of Viagra'…

Looking at the picture, it looks like it has a fully improved posture (legs under the body rather than out to the side) so it'd probably have a more active lifestyle than current crocs.

As to why it became extinct, well, the metabolic load of all that armour, growing it and then lugging it around, would put it at a disadvantage against more lightly built predators.

They out-bred it and ate all the food before it could catch it.

The next question is WHY did it need all that armour? Presumably there was something that predated on IT.

It lived 90 million years ago. That's right in the middle of the Cretaceous Period.

The next question is WHY did it need all that armour? Presumably there was something that predated on IT.

It lived 90 million years ago. That's right in the middle of the Cretaceous Period.

I imagine T-rex and other similar predators tried to have a crack at it.

Got some issues with that reconstruction . . . But given how mammal-like the gracilisuchians ( The tree-climbing and running branch of the crocodile group ) were, it's not that big a stretch I suppose.

The posture probably developed to support that armour, which, while being dead weight, would be metabolically cheap to grow, given the tendency for suchians to grow bony scutes in their skin.

You do see a lot of armoured creatures in South American fossil beds – Probably because, like Australia, the continent was an isolated one for long periods of time and tended to have conservative ecologies that tend to produce dedicated and specialised life forms.

The next question is WHY did it need all that armour?

To support the friggin' laser turret, of course!

What… there's another reason?

Would love to see models of the creatures featured on the ELP album 'Tarkus'.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarkus

I was going to say in answer to the OP, a crappy truck based armoured car with a big flamethrower and fuel trailer? But never mind.

Next week, a peccary crossed with an armadillo. Let us be glad the Dodo is extinct.

I've lifted up chunks of plates from glyptodonts and they weren't all that heavy. These really might not be heavy either. I would say restrictive range of motion would be more of any issue.

Next week, a peccary crossed with an armadillo. Let us be glad the Dodo is extinct.

Ah, but the peccadillo is still very alive, as anyone who follows the antics of politicians can tell you.

Come to think of it, that same body of data seems to indicate that the Dodo may not be as extinct as we thought.

LT

Here are some more pics of the creature, including a sculpted reconstruction (the photographer's angle screws up the pic, however.) The artist reconstructed it so the bone plates were not visible like in an Armadillo.

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Here is a very nice artist rendition of the head:

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You're right though: This critter could prove a tough character for any human hunters to tackle.

Alex: Be sure that when you sculpt it (have it sculpted – whatever!) that an optional "Frikkin Laser Turret" is sculpted as well.

I'd buy it. Seriously.

Someone needs to do that – create laser turrets to fit onto the heads of some of the mini sharks out there. Heck, do it in resin to fit on the cheap plastic ones from Safari Ltd. or whtever.

Niche market here!

OK, optional laser turrets it is!

-Alex

I want some mandatory laser turrets.

You're right though: This critter could prove a tough character for any human hunters to tackle.

Actually, in comparison with modern-day crocodilia, this guy isn't very big. 6.6 feet/260 lbs is pretty puny for an American alligator – downright tiny for an Indo-Pacific or Nile crocodile – and this critter doesn't look like it could match an adult alligator's 2000+ psi bite either. As to the armor … well, you can kill an alligator with a head shot from a .22 pistol and its skull is almost solid, so I suspect modern weapons wouldn't have much trouble with Armadillosuchus.

LT

Very cool critter.

Imagine it curling up into a ball when it sees you driving towards it.

A. Frustrated.

Alright! I've found an artist, he's already turned in one concept sketch – I've given him feedback for revisions!

The miniature is coming!

-Alex

Sweet!

Honestly, I could see this becoming *domesticated*, too. Imagine it running alongside a stone age spearman, or used as a hunting dog in a VSF hunting expedition, or helping SWAT police..

It looks cool but I think I will wait for the inevitable ZOID. ;)

I did actually have Jason Wiebe sculpt these for me:

Have to admit, the sculpts look surprisingly like some of the early images of dino's. PERFECT for VSF!

Thanks, Alex, but didn't you promise turrets? I'd suggest optional laser or Gatling… ;->=

Doug

Well, the turrets will have to come later. I kinda wanted to have a set made with spiked collars, too. Seriously – I'll be using them as temple guard animals in my setting.

I just need to finish sorting the castings & I can settle on a price, then they'll go up for sale.

Well, in Spanish the word crocodile is already "cocodrilo".

Dan

Alxbates
Are those commercially available. They would be perfect for Hive, Queen and Country!