3 new ancient crocodile species fossils found
Quote:
WASHINGTON – A 20-foot-long crocodile with three sets of fangs — like wild boar tusks — roamed parts of northern Africa millions of years ago, researchers reported Thursday. While this fearsome creature hunted meat, not far away another newly found type of croc with a wide, flat snout like a pancake was fishing for food.
And a smaller, 3-foot-long relative with buckteeth was chomping plants and grubs in the same region.
The three new species, along with new examples of two previously known ancient crocodiles, were detailed Thursday by researchers Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago and Hans Larsson of McGill University in Montreal. They spoke at a news conference organized by the National Geographic Society, which sponsored the research.
"These species open a window on a croc world completely foreign to what was living on northern continents," Sereno said of the unusual animals that lived 100 million years ago on the southern continent known as Gondwana.
|
In this image released by National Geographic, National
Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Paul Sereno, enveloped
by the jaws of SuperCroc, holds the fossil head of DogCroc.
DogCroc, along with four other newly described crocs,
lived in the Sahara when the 8-ton SuperCroc did, at a
time when dinosaurs ruled.
A flesh model of the head of PancakeCroc (above) and its
fossil lower jaw are seen in this combo handout image by
National Geographic made available to Reuters on November
19, 2009. PancakeCroc was a fish eater with a 3-foot-long,
pancake-flat skull. It likely rested motionless for hours, its
open jaws waiting for prey.
A flesh model of the head of BoarCroc (above) and its actual
fossil skull discovered in the Sahara by a team led by
paleontologist Paul Sereno, a professor at the University of
Chicago, are seen in this combo photograph by National
Geographic made available to Reuters on November 19, 2009.
BoarCroc was a 20-foot-long meat eater with three sets of
dagger-shaped fangs.
