Select the search type
  • Site
  • Web
Search

Blog

Published on Thursday, February 4, 2016

Found: An Ancient Fossil From A Crocodile The Size Of A Bus

[AHHH]

Found: An Ancient Fossil From A Crocodile The Size Of A Bus

When these Paleontologists were up and about conducting their research in Tunisia, they weren’t aware they were about to make an explosive discovery, earlier unknown to science. They discovered the greatest sea-dwelling crocodile in the entire world.

The prehistoric crocodile is suspected to have measured over 30ft long and 3 tons in weight. The skull on its own measured over 5ft long. This new species was named Machimosaurus rex by the researchers and its findings recorded in the journal Cretaceous Research.

Author Federico Fanti of the University of Bologna lead by the term ‘Massive’ in description of the crocodile. “It’s just big. It’s almost the size of a bus,” are the words that ensued after from Federico. He went on to state that the species of crocodile was undoubtedly on top of the food chain during its time, at least in that specific locality.

Fanti together with his team, supported by National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration, unearthed the fossils buried underneath slightly a few inches of lees on the edge of Tunisia’s Sahara Desert, a country known to be rich in fossils. The discovery came as a great surprise to Fanti and his team mates not because they found fossils, but because they found beautiful ones. The skull took them two days to expose, while the rest of the body just lay there.

It is speculated that this specific site was probably a habitat for a lagoon that overlooked the ocean. Other than the bus-sized crocodile, the researchers also found fish and turtle remains, which they are yet to identify.

The Machimosaurus rex was utterly competent of hunting in water and could either have been a scavenger or ambush predator. When Machimosaurus rex and other crocodile with big heads and short teeth are put to comparison, the Machimosaurus rex had an extremely robust bite force that would allow it to crush its food, as reported by Fanti. A great example of an ideal meal would have been turtles.

Contradiction between earlier research and the discovery of today

The discovery of the crocodile is deemed groundbreaking for more reasons other than its size. Fanti believes that this discovery undercuts initial theories regarding pre-historic life; for instance, the group of crocodiles in which Machimosaurus rex belongs was believed to have gone extinct approximately 150 million years ago towards the close of Jurassic Period. However, the Machimosaurus rex that was discovered was alive 130 million years ago.

Earlier studies lead to the assumption of a great global extinction between the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods, which cleared massive marine reptile as well as the group of reptiles on topic, according to Fanti. However, Machimosaurus rex went on living way after the assumed mass extinction. So, was the mass extinction theory true or false?

Fanti believes it was wrong according to the recently uncovered truths, and that everyone should have a better understanding of what’s taking place at the close of the Jurassic period.

Rate this article:
5.0
Comments ()Number of views (6068)

Author: Vrountas

Categories: Blogs, Animals & Wildlife

Tags:

Print

Search Jobs

Calender

«March 2024»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
26272829123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
1234567

Category

    Help Us Go Green
      
    Help Us Go Green