Ancient Crocodile -relatives could have ripped dinosaurs apart

An old crocodile relative who lived about 70 million years ago was probably such a formidable predator that it could have eaten medium -sized dinosaur for breakfast.

“Its large teeth had serrated edges like steak knives, which is a strong signal that this animal could tear through muscles and bones, probably hunting dinosaurs or other prey, Diego Pol at the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research in Buenos Aires Argentina.

Kostensuchus atrox, As in life would have been about 3.5 masters long and weighed about 250 kg, found in March 2020 in southern Patagonia. The fossil included a beautiful preserved skull and pairs of the predator’s skeleton.

Its genealogy comes from the patagonic wind known as the diet and the Egyptian crocodile -headed god known as Souchos, with atrox, which means hard or hard in Greek.

It made at the end of the chalk and is from a group of crocodile relatives known as Peirosaurid Crocodyliformms, which did not survive the extermination event 66 million years ago, which also wiped out most dinosaurs.

Unlike modern crocodiles that have long, flat snutterDietsuchus Had a tall, wide and extremely robust skull built to pure power, says Pol. Its limbs were more elongated than those from modern crocodiles, which suggested it was capable of more flexible movement on land.

“Their body conditions and skull form suggest that they could move on land and maybe also have hunted on land,” he says. “The skull off Dietsuchus is much wider and more robust than any living crocodile. “

Another indicator that Dietsuchus Was more adapted to a life on land modern crocodiles is that the nostrils were located at the front of the muzzle, not on top of the skull, which means it would not have been able to braate and keep most of its body submerged at the same time.

It had more than 50 sharp, serrated teeth, some over 5 centimeters long. Pol says these teeth were not only to grab but also to cut through muscles.

“The back of its lower jaw suggests that it had massive jaw-closing muscles and one of the most powerful cocks in its ecosystem,” he says. “These traits helped us to place it as a top predator and coexist with large meat -eating dinosaur.”

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