Toyotamaphimeia: No measured body size data available to draw at scale.
- · Grid units represent actual meters (m); human and animals are drawn to the exact same scale with original silhouette aspect ratios preserved.
- · When a size range is recorded (e.g. 1–1.6m), the lower bound is used for scale comparison.
- · Human silhouette: PhyloPic — NASA · Public Domain Mark 1.0
Toyotamaphimeia
Toyotamaphimeia taiwanicus (Toyotamaphimeia · マチカネワニ)
Known only from fossils. The IUCN Red List assesses only species extant since 1500 CE, so fossil taxa are not assigned a category.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Discovered during campus construction at Osaka University, the Machikane crocodile fossil became the motif for the university's official mascot, 'Dr. Wani.'
- 💡 Osaka University announced that Japan's Council for Cultural Affairs recommended designating the Machikane crocodile fossil as a Natural Monument in June 2025, which would be the first such designation in Osaka Prefecture in 69 years.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
Toyotamaphimeia taiwanicus belongs to Toyotamaphimeia, a genus of large crocodilians that lived in East Asia during the Pleistocene. The best-known species in the genus, the Machikane crocodile (T. machikanensis), is the first nearly complete crocodilian skeleton fossil found in Japan.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
The fossil of T. machikanensis in the same genus had a skull well over 1 m long, making it large even among crocodilians. No confirmed body-size data were available for this species (taiwanicus).
🔍 3. Fossil Record & Paleoecology
T. machikanensis was discovered by chance in strata about 450,000 years old during construction of the Faculty of Science building on the Toyonaka Campus of Osaka University in 1964. It is the most complete crocodilian fossil found in Japan.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • Fossil taxon — the IUCN Red List assesses only species living or extinct since 1500
- • paleobiodb.org — basicTaxonInfo
- • wikidata.org — Q6130295
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Crocodile skeleton.jpg
- • osaka-u.ac.jp — file
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Armin Reindl · CC BY 4.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Sutekhsuchus dowsoni)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.