As children and teens we took great pleasure in watching Steve Irwin’s shows on Discovery. Many of us were wondered how big can a crocodile actually grow? It seems that a team of archeologists managed to answer that one. Bus-sized crocodile fossils were discovered in Tunisia, making scientists rethink the whole crocodile family.
- The giant crocodile was named Machimosaurus Rex;
- He belonged to the teleosaurids family of crocs, which became extinct at the end of Jurassic;
- The large reptile measured 30 feet in length and weighed approximately 3 tons;
- The Machimosaurus Rex shares a common lineage with modern species of reptiles.
According to the team that made this wondrous discovery, the giant reptile was an avid hunter, with teeth so powerful that is was capable of smashing even the toughest shells of giant turtles. Moreover, the croc was dubbed Machimosaurus for nothing.
By reconstructing the profile of the giant reptile, the team of paleontologist have determined that it had more than 30 feet in length and weigh approximately 3 tons. The Machimosaurus Rex presented short, round and stout teeth, which he would have used to scrape the meat out of the turtle’s shells.
The discovery itself has been made by Doctor Federico Fanti and his team of paleontologist while performing several excavations in Tunisia. The area where the fossils have been discovered is literally littered with thousands of fossils, transforming the zone in an archeological El-Dorado.
As stated, the newly discovered reptile called Machimosaurus Rex belonged to reptile group called teleosaurids. According to previous discoveries, it is believed that this family of reptiles became extinct at the end of the Jurassic Era, approximately 145 million years ago.
Fanti, along with his co-workers believes that this discovery is critical for temporal tracking. The senior paleontologists declared that with the discovery of the bus-sized crocodile, the whole temporal range could be rewritten.
Bus-sized crocodile fossils were discovered in Tunisia. The discovered fossils lead the researchers into believing that the timeframe between certain species may be off.
Getting back to the massive crocodiles, according to the team’s projections, the massive turtle-eating reptile might have roamed the ocean between Africa and Europe approximately 100 million years ago.
The crocodile was not only massive and intimidating. Scientists have discovered that the giant marine reptile was able somehow to elude the Great Extinction, and live around for another 25 million years.
As unbelievable as it would seem, at first, it would seem that this is not the largest species of crocodiles that ever roamed the Earth. According to discoveries, the Machimosaurus Rex is easily overtaken in terms of length and weight by a species of saltwater crocodiles which measured more than 12 meters and weighed a whopping 17.500 pounds.
Photo credits:www.wikipedia.org
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