Dr. David Schwimmer, a world-renowned expert on the giant North American crocodilian genus Deinosuchus and a Columbus State University geology professor, has contributed his research to the creation of the first-ever scholarly accurate, mounted skeleton replica of the species Deinosuchus schwimmeri. Known for decades as a “dinosaur-killer,” Deinosuchus was almost certainly the apex predator of its day. 

Deinosuchus schwimmeri, which walked the eastern United States 83 million to 76 million years ago, was a dinosaur-eating, school-bus-sized relative of modern alligators. Measuring up to 31 feet (9.45 meters) long, the new Deinosuchus schwimmeri prototype was commissioned by the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, and recently installed there. It marks the culmination of two years of Schwimmer’s consulting with Triebold Paleontology Inc., a leader in fossil skeleton models for museums, universities and attractions around the world.

“Each year, we have thousands of students visit us from across Georgia and neighboring states,” the Tellus Science Museum’s director of education, Hannah Eisla, explained. “Many of these students come on school field trips specifically to learn more about the region they call home and how it has changed over time. The addition of Deinosuchus schwimmeri allows us to provide a more detailed picture of this area's ecosystem in the Cretaceous Period.”

“Tellus is currently the only museum to have a cast of Deinosuchus schwimmeri, so this is an experience our visitors can’t get anywhere else,” added Rebecca Melsheimer, the museum’s curatorial coordinator. “The scale of the dinosaurs and other creatures that lived during [the Late Cretaceous epoch] is hard to capture in words or pictures.  We can tell you that Deinosuchus is 30 feet long, but seeing it is far more impactful.”

A group of paleontologists classified the new species of “terror croc” and named it Deinosuchus schwimmeri for Schwimmer in 2020, after years of Schwimmer’s meticulous fossil study, journal publications, conference presentations and a 2002 book on the giant North American Cretaceous crocodilian genus. In their article, published by the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology in July 2020, they explained that naming it after Schwimmer honored “his tireless work on the Late Cretaceous paleontology of the Southeast and Eastern Seaboard, USA.”

For more than 40 years, Schwimmer has searched for and excavated fossil evidence of Deinosuchus schwimmeri. Grants from National Geographic have funded his treks to sites in Alabama, Georgia and Texas. The fossil artifacts he’s recovered are now permanently cared for and preserved by leading national “repository” museums, including the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Tellus Science Museum.

Creating a science-informed, life-sized fossil replica is a meticulous process, Schwimmer explained. In the case of Deinosuchus schwimmeri, the two-year project involved the Triebold Paleontology team capturing high-resolution 3D scans of Deinosuchus fossil records to rearticulate the creature’s detailed dermal armor and skeletal structure. He pointed out that the newly assembled replica better informs the field of paleontology.

“These replicas are more than just creating a ‘scare factor,’” Schwimmer explained. “Understanding dinosaurs’ predatory habits helps us decode some of nature’s greatest survival strategies. By studying these ancient apex predators, we are essentially looking back in time to see exactly how life adapted and dominated a changing world.”

Research decades in the making

Schwimmer grew up in New York City just 10 blocks from the American Museum of Natural History, and it was there that a terrifying skull display sparked his fascination with Deinosuchus. Since finding his first Deinosuchus fossil remains in 1979—a year after joining Columbus State (then Columbus College)—his research has focused on piecing together the life and environment of this creature.

Today, his research on Deinosuchus has made him a worldwide expert on life in the Late Cretaceous epoch (100.5 million years ago to 66 million years ago) in the Southeast U.S. His research, dating back to the 1980s, led to the discovery of evidence for specific “firsts” in Georgia: flying reptiles (pterodactyls), the first dinosaurs and the first Deinosuchus.

Schwimmer—who once worked as a science writer for pioneering ocean explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau—detailed the first two decades of his research findings in his popular 2002 book, King of the Crocodylians: The Paleobiology of Deinosuchus. It was an Amazon top-seller in its category for several weeks and a popular book-of-the-month selection by science-oriented reading clubs, such as one organized by the Discovery Educator Network.

The book, which Schwimmer is currently updating, has helped shape the understanding of Deinosuchus and other Mesozoic animals in Georgia and garnered him international recognition as a top paleontology scholar. Since then, respected museums like Atlanta’s Fernbank Museum of Natural History, the University of Texas’ Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory, and the Tellus Museum have sought his expertise on their fossil collections and educational displays.

In 2010, Schwimmer drew international attention for two published fossil studies linked to Deinosuchus: his research on dinosaur-bone bite marks, and research on fossilized dung (coprolites) by 2010 undergraduate environmental science and geology major Samantha (Harrell) Stanford, whom he supervised. Those studies appeared in the special symposium volume of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, a publication with an international reputation, and at the March 2010 Geological Society of America Northeastern-Southeastern Annual Meeting. Harrell was cited as contributing to both studies.

Schwimmer pointed out that specialties like paleontology and other natural, Earth and space sciences offer students opportunities to conduct “backyard research” with faculty at regional universities like Columbus State. He said that locally based research opportunities are plentiful for students wishing to get their hands dirty, as well as offering other benefits.”

“[Harrell] came out in the field and collected fossils with me. At most universities, undergraduates rarely collaborate on or publish peer-reviewed research. Institutions of our size provide undergraduate students like Samantha with greater one-on-one access to faculty mentors and field-based research opportunities like this that, while local, are still quite impactful on the field,” Schwimmer said.

With several Deinosuchus sites within 40 miles of Columbus, the area has been a rich bed of discovery for Schwimmer and the student researchers who have tagged along on his expeditions. Schwimmer said that proximity is also what makes the Tellus Science Museum a natural place for one of the first Deinosuchus fossil replicas.

“Bones and fossils tell us only part of the story,” Schwimmer concluded. “Fully assembled, life-size replicas become a blueprint for better understanding the dynamic animals that creatures like Deinosuchus really were.”