Extinct Australian Crocodile Likely Ate 1,400-Pound Birds

A re - examination of fossils from key Australia has led to the discovery of a antecedently unknown coinage of crocodile . Now extinct , the giant reptile likely prey on animals of equally formidable sizing .

The 8 - million - year - old clappers of multiple crocodile , including an telling skull , were found over 10 years ago at the Alcoota fogey site in key Australia , about 125 international mile ( 200 kilometer ) from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory . This region , now parched , was once capable of supporting a universe of great crocodiles , as it featured rush rivers and refreshful pool of water .

When paleontologists first encountered these bones , they rightly assigned them to an out genus of crocodile hump as Baru . What they did n’t realize however , and as their exhaustive young investigation has revealed , they belong to an entirely unknown species of Baru crocodile . A scientific report describing and bring up the new species is presently in the works , and it should be bring out in early 2022 , as Adam Yates , the senior curator of Earth Sciences at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory , explained in an email .

Conceptual image of the extinct Baru crocodile from prehistoric Australia.

Conceptual image of the extinct Baru crocodile from prehistoric Australia.Illustration: Adam Yates

Modern crocodiles currently living in Australia belong to the genus Crocodylus , and they are believe to have arrived from Africa within the last few million year . Baru belong to an ancient group called Mekosuchinae , now extinct , which dates back to around 45 million years ago . An interesting aspect about the young fogey is that they were date to just about 8 million yr ago , positioning them as among the most recent Baru crocodiles on the continent . The soon - to - be named metal money lived during the Late Miocene , which traverse 12 million to 5 million years ago .

A large skull found at Alcoota is the prize fossil , and it will be the holotype , or name - aim , specimen . Dozens of other bones were launch , including juvenile and adults . This “ makes our new Baru species perhaps the best love of all Australian fossil crocodile , ” said Yates , who ’s a Centennial State - investigator on the labor . relative anatomy , along with forward-looking phyletic proficiency , allowed the team to place the new metal money within the family tree of crocodiles .

“ Some of the secern features are its uttermost robusticity and relatively bombastic teeth , ” said Yates . “ The large size of the teeth stand for that they are more crowded in the jaws , and there are few of them than in the new metal money ’ closest congenator . ”

The large crocodile skull.

The large crocodile skull.Image: Adam Yates

The largest bones propose adults grew to around 13.1 to 14.8 invertebrate foot ( 4 to 4.5 metre ) in duration . That ’s a big croc , no doubt , but not record - breaking . That order , the robustness of its bone and the large size of its muscularity attachment maneuver to a “ far heavier - body animal than a modern saltwater crocodile of tantamount distance , ” say Yates . Its exact weight could not be determined , but it likely weighed many hundreds of pounds . significantly , these estimates were based on just 10 individuals ; the “ chances that we have a ‘ record - ledgeman ’ for the species among those 10 is slender , and it is completely possible that the largest Baru matched the largest saltwater crocodile in size , ” added Yates .

These creatures also feature thickset , heavy , and bass jaws . Yates suspects these reptiles predate upon large brute , including a large flightless bird called Dromornis stirtoni . Fossils of these razz , which stood upwards of 9.8 base ( 3 metre ) tall and press 1,400 Irish punt ( 650 kg ) , have antecedently been found in context with Baru crocodile , suggesting they were prey animals for the reptiles .

The new discovered mintage is authoritative , as it could throw fresh light source on the environmental condition of primal Australia during the Late Miocene , as well as why this species — and the total genus — finally went nonextant .

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