Baurusuchids were badass. If you don’t know that, you have been missing out. Just look at how paleontologists Felipe Montefeltro, Hans Larsson and Max Langer described this extinct group of crocodiles by way of introducing a new species into the group earlier this month:

Baurusuchidae is a group of extinct Crocodyliformes with peculiar, dog-faced skulls, hypertrophied canines, and terrestrial, cursorial limb morphologies.

Granted, that’s a little technical — the conventions of the technical literature fail us when it comes to expressing excitement about fantastic organisms — but I think you can get the picture; terrestrial, dog-faced crocodiles well-adapted to running down prey and tearing into their victims with big, sharp teeth. Even better, these creatures lived alongside — and probably occasionally fed