Researchers Discover Remains Of Ancient Bus-Sized Crocodile

Researchers have discovered the remains of an ancient crocodile that lived in the sea and was about the size of a modern bus. This particular prehistoric crocodile was previously unknown to scientists; it has been dubbed Machimosaurus rex and was discovered in Tunisia. Said University of Bologna's Federico Fanti, the paper's lead author, "It's just big. It's almost the size of a bus."

The fossilized remains were discovered a few inches below some sediment in Tunisia, specifically near the Sahara Desert's edge. The collective was being supported by the National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration, and was surprised to discover such "beautiful" fossils.

It took the researchers two days to uncover the ancient crocodile's skull, which fortunately turned out to be buried with the rest of the fossilized body. The creature is thought to have been more than 30ft long and to have been either a scavenging creature or an ambush predator.

An analysis of the crocodile revealed it had short teeth and a big head similar to other crocodiles, and that such a structure meant it could have "a very incredibly powerful bit force" making it a formidable hunter. In addition, the fossilized remains are about 130 million years old, making them the youngest ever discovered prehistoric crocodile bones. Previously, researchers believed such massive crocs went extinct 150 million years or so ago.

VIA: The Washington Post