Brasília [Brazil], January 7: The fossilised remains of a huge ancient crocodile that lived on the planet alongside the dinosaurs, have been discovered in Brazil. The species existed 72-66 million years ago, reports Historical Biology.
The crocodile was given the scientific name Titanochampsaiorii. It reached three to six metres in length and had, according to scientists, a very strong bite.
The remains included the upper part of the skull and part of the right side of the skeleton. Due to the strong fragmentation, palaeontologists were at first unable to correctly identify the extinct predator and thought it was a titanosaurus. But later observations showed that it possessed features typical of crocodiles.
The giant creature belonged to the Neosuchia clade, which includes all living crocodiles and their close fossil relatives. It was probably semi-aquatic and hunted its prey by ambushing it near the shores of reservoirs.
Scientists noted that such discoveries help to better understand the evolution of crocodiles. It is know that many species of crocodiles have once existed on Earth. Almost all of them are now extinct, but neozoans have proved to be successful and have managed to survive a series of global cataclysms.
Earlier, it was reported that fossils of an ancient crocodile were found in Australia. It had a terrestrial lifestyle, as reported by Mir24.
Source: TV BRICS
