Fossil hunters unearth galloping, dinosaur-eating crocodiles in Sahara

[Al-khiyal]

Fossil hunters unearth galloping, dinosaur-eating crocodiles in Sahara



Sereno with his Saharan discoveries – SuperCroc, BoarCroc (upper right), PancakeCroc (lower right),
RatCroc, DogCroc and DuckCroc. The fossil crocs were unearthed in a series of expeditions to the Sahara
beginning in 2000, supported by the National Geographic Society



A flesh model of the head of BoarCroc and the fossil skull discovered in the Sahara.
BoarCroc was a 6m-long meat eater with three sets of dagger-shaped fangs



Artist’s conception of BoarCroc



A flesh model of the head of RatCroc and its fossil lower jaw.
RatCroc used its pair of buckteeth to dig for plant roots and grubs.
Other fossil bones, not pictured, helped flesh out RatCroc’s features



Artist’s conception of RatCroc, a metre-long, upright plant and grub-eater



A flesh model of the head of PancakeCroc and its fossil lower jaw.
PancakeCroc was a fish eater with a metre-long, pancake-flat skull



PancakeCroc probably remained motionless for hours, its open jaws waiting for prey



A flesh model of the head of DogCroc and its fossil skull.
DogCroc had a soft, doglike nose and would have been an agile galloper and swimmer



DogCroc running at full tilt



A flesh model of the head of DuckCroc and its fossil skull.
DuckCroc had a broad, overhanging snout and a long, pointed nose



DuckCroc was around a metre long.
In common with the other ancient crocs, but unlike modern crocodiles,
it walked upright with its legs extended



Sereno in the jaws of SuperCroc, holding the fossil head of DogCroc

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November 19, 2009 -- Fossil hunters have uncovered the remains of primitive crocodiles that "galloped" on land and patrolled the broad rivers that coursed through north Africa one hundred million years ago. The skeletons of five creatures that walked with dinosaurs – and ate them – were unearthed in remote and rocky regions of what are now Morocco and Niger during a series of expeditions in the Sahara desert. Three of the crocodiles are new species and include Kaprosuchus saharicus, a 6.5m-long beast with three sets of dagger-like tusks and an armoured snout for ramming its prey. Another species, Laganosuchus thaumastos, was of similar length but had a pancake-flat head and is thought to have lurked in rivers with its jaws open, waiting for unsuspecting fish to pass.

The most striking feature the beasts have in common was revealed by their bone structure, which suggests they were efficient swimmers, but when they clambered ashore they were also capable of galloping across the plains. Modern crocodiles crawl on their bellies because their legs sprawl out to the side. "My African crocs appeared to have had both upright, agile legs for bounding overland and a versatile tail for paddling in water," writes Paul Sereno, a palaeontologist at the University of Chicago, in National Geographic Magazine. "These species open a window on a croc world completely foreign to what was living on northern continents."

The third new species, Araripesuchus rattoides, was only a metre long and probably used a pair of buckteeth in its lower jaw to dig for grubs. The other two crocodiles unearthed during the expedition are known species. One had a wide, overhanging snout containing sensory areas that it used to sniff out prey in shallow waters. The other had a soft, dog-like nose and is thought to have been extremely agile. Most of the fossils were found near the site where, in 2001, Sereno uncovered a 12m-long crocodile that lived 110m years ago. The beast, nicknamed SuperCroc, weighed around eight tonnes. The latest fossils are described in the journal ZooKeys.

"We were surprised to find so many species from the same time in the same place," said Hans Larsson, a palaeontologist at the University of Montreal, who took part in the expedition. "Each of the crocs apparently had different diets, different behaviours. It appears they had divided up the ecosystem, each species taking advantage of it in its own way."

The expedition was sponsored by National Geographic, which airs a documentary about the discoveries, When Crocs ate Dinosaurs at 5pm on Sunday 20 December on the Nat Geo Wild channel.

[BACK2MYROOTS]

Incredible pictures, su7anallah!! Scientists are slowly but surely building the full picture of what the world was like 150-60 million years ago. It's a terrifying world where we would have stood no chance of survival had we existed then side by side these monsters. It makes you wonder what was the point of their existence. Why were they created in the first place? And, are we going to meet these horrors in the hereafter? Very confusing...

Just for the sake of argument, if we were to land on a planet still inhabited with dinosaur-like creatures, are we going to learn to live with them or exterminate them so we can live on such planet? I know, it's a theoretical question. It's just the thought...

I look forward to watching " When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs" in December 2009.