Sometime in the Cretaceous, about 95 million years ago In an area we now call Australia, a giant crocodile relative devoured one last feast before dying: the creature swallowed a one bite dinosaur.
This is the conclusion reached by a group of researchers after finding the fossil remains of this “cousin” of the crocodile that they have nicknamed confractosuchus sauroktonos. As explained in the recently published study, after “dinner”, the creature died with the almost complete dinosaur in its womb.
We are talking about a not very big dinosaur. The researchers say that it was a young ornithopod, a group of bipedal herbivores that includes duck-billed dinosaurs, in fact, the finding represents the first bones of an ornithopod found in this part of the continent, and the animal may be a previously unknown species.
More data. The crocodile fossil was missing a tail, but the hind legs, part of the pelvis and skull along with many bones in the rest of the body were intact. A creature they calculate to be about 2.5 meters long when it died. According to the study:
The cumbersome name, a new genus and species, is translated from Latin and Greek words that collectively mean “dinosaur-killing crocodile,” and that it comes from the gut contents of the fossil.
The researchers recall that crocodiles and their relatives lived alongside the dinosaurs from the Triassic period. Furthermore, previous studies found that the mark on fossilized dinosaur bones hinted that some crocodiles fed on theseeven if It was not clear if as a resource when they found remains or hunting them.
Be that as it may, it is a fascinating find, as preserved intestinal contents are rarely found in a crocodile. In addition, it supposes the confirmation that the dinosaurs served as sustenance in the diet of these relatives of the Cretaceous crocodiles.
“Dinosaurs likely constituted an important resource in the Cretaceous ecological food web. Given the lack of comparable global specimens, this prehistoric crocodile and its last meal will continue to provide clues to the relationships and behaviors of animals that inhabited Australia millions of years ago.” about the work the researcher Matt White, lead author of the study.[[LiveScience]