(ORDO NEWS) — In Brazil, they discovered the fossilized remains of a huge ancient crocodile that lived on the planet next to the dinosaurs. The species existed 72-66 million years ago, according to Historical Biology.
The crocodile was given the scientific name Titanochampsa iorii. It reached three to six meters in length and had, according to scientists, a very strong bite.
The remains included the top of the skull and part of the right side of the skeleton.
Due to the strong fragmentation, paleontologists at first could not correctly identify the extinct predator and considered it to be a titanosaur.
But subsequent observations have shown that it has features characteristic of crocodiles.
The giant creature belonged to the Neosuchia clade, which includes all modern crocodiles and their closest fossil relatives.
Probably, it led a semi-aquatic lifestyle and waited for prey in ambush near the shores of water bodies.
Scientists noted that such discoveries help to better understand the evolution of crocodiles. It is known that on Earth there were many species of crocodile.
Almost all of them died out, but the neo-such were successful and managed to survive a number of global cataclysms.
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