A picture needing a caption

This may be one of my favorite 19th-century paleological illustrations to date. (From Louis Figuier's The World Before the Deluge, as seen on BibliOdyssey.) Is the poor crocodilian dead, or just warming his tummy in the bright Oolitic sunshine? I'm sure the artist had a purpose in mind, but what was it? Either way, his buddy sure seems happy about that squid.