Crocodile fossils the size of a bus discovered – CNN

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(CNN) — A new study has shed more light on the gigantic “crocodiles of terror,” which once roamed the world and fed on dinosaurs with teeth “the size of a banana.”

The research, which was conducted in 2018, was published this week in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. He found that the deinosuchus, a lineage of giant crocodilians from the late Cretaceous in North America, was nearly as long as city buses and grew up to 10 meters long, according the study authors.

«Deinosuchus it was a giant that must have terrified the dinosaurs who came to the water’s edge to drink, “said study co-author Dr. Cossette in a press release announcing the research findings. “Until now, the complete animal was unknown. These new specimens we have examined reveal a strange and monstrous predator with teeth the size of a banana. ‘

Name deinosuchus means “crocodiles of terror,” but the study authors say they were more like alligators. However, the muzzle of deinosuchus It was long and wide and had two mysterious holes at the tip of its snout, which differentiated it from both alligators and crocodiles.

There were at least three species of deinosuchus and they lived in the west of U.S, from Montana to northern Mexico and along the Atlantic coastal plain from New Jersey to Mississippi, the researchers said.

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He deinosuchus it was probably the largest predator in its ecosystem, surpassing even the largest predatory dinosaurs that lived at the same time. Researchers discovered bite marks on everything from dinosaur bones to turtle shells.

Fortunately, these “crocodiles of terror” lived between 75 and 82 million years ago.

“It was a strange animal,” study co-author Professor Christopher Brochu said in the press release. ‘It shows that crocodilians are not’ living fossils’ that have not changed since the age of the dinosaurs. They have evolved as dynamically as any other group.

It is unknown what happened to the deinosuchus and how they became extinct, as the study authors found that they disappeared before the main mass extinction at the end of the dinosaur age.

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