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An artist's impression of what the Machimosaurus rex would have looked like |
The remains of a fearsome
giant crocodile which roamed the oceans around 120 million years ago
have been found in the Tunisian desert.
The new species, named Machimosaurus rex, has been described by paleontologists for the first time in the journal Cretaceous Research.
Though only part of the prehistoric predator – which
weighed up to 3 tonnes and grew to nearly 10 meters long was found,
experts had enough to decipher some key facts about it.
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How the Head may have looked like |
The 160cm-long skull and a number of other bones
were discovered by Federico Fanti from the University of Bologna, Italy
and his colleagues.
The creature is the largest known member of a lineage of crocodiles which spent most of their life in the sea, National Geographic reports.
Its
"stocky, relatively short and rounded teeth" combined with the bite
force would mean it was likely a general hunter which ate a wide variety
of prey including marine turtles.
While
scientists are waiting for a more complete skeleton to emerge, Dr Fanti
estimates the creature was about 9.6 metres long based on the assumption
it had similar proportions to its close relatives.
While
distant freshwater relatives are bigger than the Machimosaurus rex, it
is believed the animal was the biggest ocean-dwelling member of the
crocodile family.
