Found: Dino-Munching Crocodiles Who Swam in the Sahara

[Christa]

This is one of the best headlines I have seen in a long time. It really gives perspective to the time frame.

A thrilling set of ancient crocodile fossils have been unearthed in northern Africa. A “saber-toothed cat in armor” and a pancake-shaped predator are among the strange crocodile cousins whose bones have been found beneath the windswept dunes of the Sahara, archaeologists say .

At a news conference organized by the National Geographic Society, which sponsored the research, scientists announced that the fossils represent 5 species; 3 new species and 2 that were previously known. These ancient croc ancestors, known as crocodilyforms, are unlike any crocodiles encountered in the Northern Hemisphere, according to the research team. Their findings are detailed in the journal ZooKeys.

The crocs were spectacularly diverse, and included a species that ate dinosaurs, two that grew up to 20 feet long, and two that had long legs for quick movement on land but also had long tails for swimming. The three new species are:

• BoarCroc (Kaprosuchus saharicus), a 20-foot meat-eater. It used its snout for ramming and three sets of dagger-shaped fangs for slicing dinosaurs it ate.

• PancakeCroc (Laganosuchus thaumastos): a 20-foot-long, squat fish-eater with a 3-foot long flat head with spike-shaped teeth.

• RatCroc (Araripesuchus rattoides), a 3-foot-long plant and grub eater with buckteeth used for digging .




http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/11/20/found-dino-munching-crocodiles-who-swam-in-the-sahara/




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[DFW]

1. This planet still has a LOT of secrets to give up, I'll bet

The bible thumpers will find a way around it, no doubt, but I pay attention to them about as much as
I do to reports of the eloquence Sarah Palin's doctoral thesis. I find discoveries like this to be
completely fascinating.

[AndyA]

2. Let's arrange for free trips to the Sahara for

Baucus, Bayh, Landrieu, Lincoln, Lieberman, and...

...maybe we'll get lucky and there'll still be a few of those Dino-munching Crocs around. (And they'll not understand the difference between dinosaurs and Democrats In Name Only!) :rofl:

[Ptah]

3. Yikes!

Thanks for the story and link.