Scientists now say Deinosuchus was not an alligatoroid at all. Unlike its freshwater cousins, it retained the salt glands found in early crocodilians—organs that help regulate salt levels by excreting excess sodium chloride. These are still present in modern crocodiles but absent in today’s alligators.

Deinosuchus had a wide snout like an alligator’s. But unlike alligators, it thrived in salty waters. It lived between 82 and 75 million years ago.