NationStates Jolt Archive


Unique 135 million year old crocodile discovered in Argentina

Pennterra
13-11-2005, 08:45
I figured we could all take a break from heated political dialogue to gape at this baddy.

From Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051110/sc_nm/science_crocodile_dc):

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - A bizarre marine crocodile that lived 135 million years ago in what is now Argentina had the head of a dinosaur and the tail of a fish, paleontologists said on Thursday.

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The finding, published in Thursday's online issue of the journal Science, sheds new light on an animal that millions of years ago dominated Earth's seas. Scientists are calling the beast "Godzilla." Its discovery will be highlighted in the December issue of National Geographic magazine.

The animal is "the most bizarre marine crocodile known to date," said Diego Pol of The Ohio State University, a co-author of the study.

Basically, this guy is a demented cross of croc and dinosaur. I had wondered if, perhaps, the paleontologists had mistaken a dinosaur head for the croc's head, but then I realized that some palaeontologists can identify a dinosaur based on a fragment of a single tooth; so, there isn't much chance of mistaken identity here.
Poggrom
13-11-2005, 08:55
That's weird, now. I live in Buenos Aires and I didn't hear anything about some gigantic crocodile being discovered.

How old are these news, exactly?
Pennterra
13-11-2005, 09:29
That's weird, now. I live in Buenos Aires and I didn't hear anything about some gigantic crocodile being discovered.

How old are these news, exactly?

The article is from Thursday.

It isn't that big- only 12 feet long (approximately 4 meters). Small by modern crocodile standards.