Fossils Shed Light on Ancient "Croc World"

(AP)  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.

Hans Dieter Sues of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History said the discovery revises the ideas of what crocodile-type reptiles were like.

"It's a joy for anyone who is interested in ancient life to see," said Sues, an editor at ZooKeys, which published the findings.

The researchers suggest that these crocs could gallop across the landscape chasing prey and yet dive into water and swim.

"My African crocs appeared to have had both upright, agile legs for bounding overland and a versatile tail for paddling in water," Sereno wrote in an article for National Geographic magazine. "Their amphibious talents in the past may be the key to understanding how they flourished in, and ultimately survived, the dinosaur era."

They were not racehorses, Sereno said, but they could move quickly. Freshwater crocs in Australia manage to eat a few people every year and these would have been able to do as well, he said. However, there were no people around at the time.

The newly discovered species are:

• Kaprosuchus saharicus, nicknamed "BoarCroc," found in Niger. BoarCroc was a 20-foot-long (6 meter) meat-eater with an armored snout for ramming and three sets of dagger-shaped fangs for slicing. The tusks stuck out above and below the jaw like a modern warthog, said Larsson. "This has never been seen before on any crocodile."

• Araripesuchus rattoides, which the researchers call "RatCroc," found in Morocco. This 3-foot-long ( 1 meter) croc was a plant- and grub-eater with a pair of buckteeth in the lower jaw it used to dig for food.

• Laganosuchus thaumastos, or "PancakeCroc," found in Niger and Morocco. Also 20 feet (6 meters) long, it was a squat fish-eater with a 3-foot (1 meter) pancake-flat head and spike-shaped teeth on slender jaws. Sereno said it probably remained motionless for hours, its jaws open and waiting for prey.

In addition the researchers found new fossils of two previously named species:

• Anatosuchus minor, "DuckCroc," found in Niger, a 3-foot-long (1 meter) fish-, frog- and grub-eater with a broad snout and Pinocchio-like nose. Special sensory areas on the snout end allowed it to root around on the shore and in shallow water for prey. Its closest relative is in Madagascar.

• Araripesuchus wegeneri, or "DogCroc," found in Niger, a 3-foot-long (1 meter) mew plant- and grub-eater with a soft, doglike nose pointing forward.

Sereno has focused since 2000 on fossils in the Sahara Desert, his first find being Sarcosuchus imperator, a 40-foot-long (12 meter) creature that would have weighed 8 tons (7.2 metric tons) and which he called "SuperCroc."

The new findings are detailed in the journal ZooKeys as well as National Geographic magazine and a documentary film.

[sanehuman]

Religous nuts need to stop communicating with their imaginary friends/"gods" and acting like they have schizophrenia! People 2,000+ years ago didn't know how to explain things, so they made stuff up=e.g. they called the sea with red-colored water from the red sand the Blood Sea because they believed it was blood. Instead of creating fictional pasts, we need to learn more about our planet and how to get off of it because even though it's been around for millions of years, the sun's gravity is pulling it closer, which means in the future it will be too hot to sustain life! BTW, religion is what has slowed humanity's progression immensely, through wrong ideas, wars, etc.

[seqenenre]

jdmmugenitr: Your remark on carbon dating suggests to me your knowledge on modern day dating techniques may need some refreshment. Go read a book on the stuff and we'll talk again. I suggest a book or article by Brent Dalrymple (for instance in "Scientists confront Creationism", edited by Andrew Petto and Laurie Godfrey, Norton & Company, Londen/New York 2007; pages 150-180)

[formrusmcsgt]

Science is always shedding light on the world around us while dogma drones run around with their blindfolds on......

[rf35]

After reading the article about tweaking a chicken's genes to regress it into a "dino-chicken," I wonder if a similar approach could be used with croc eggs. These reptiles are closer to their prehistoric ancestors than chickens to dinosaurs. Would it perhaps be easier to rebuild an ancient crocodile? Or does the chicken already have its genome mapped and no modern crocs do?


hermitdave...tsk-tsk. Bad form. We usually don't start "educating" the Creationists (not that that's possible) until they come on and post some drivel about how science is wrong about the dates and dinosaurs were mentioned in the Bible. But once the first one spouts off, it's open season!