Jurassic-era crocodile with T-rex teeth discovered in Madagascar

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Scientists discovered Tuesday fossils belonging to an ancient, extinct crocodile relative that had deep and massive jaw bones armed with enormous serrated teeth like those of a T-rex, according to a new study published on the journal PeerJ.

The animal, found in Madagascar in Africa, was a top land predator of the Middle Jurassic period, when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, according to the study published in the peer-reviewed journal PeerJ by Italian and French paleontologists.

Paleontologists Cristiano Dal Sasso (R) and Simone Maganuco exhibit some skull bones of the crocodile-like creature at the Natural History Museum of Milan. /Photo provided by the scientists

Its jaw bones and serrated teeth strongly suggested that just like T-rex, it also fed on hard tissue such as bones and tendons.

These anatomical features led the researchers to believe that it is a Jurassic notosuchian, a highly specialized predator different from present-day crocodilians, in having a deep skull and powerful erect limbs.

A paleoartistic restoration of its head. Unlike extant crocodiles, this terrestrial predator had a deep skull. /Photo provided by the scientists

The full name of the predatory crocodyliform is called Razanandrongobe sakalavae, which means "giant lizard ancestor from Sakalava region."

Nicknamed Razana, the animal is believed to be the oldest and possibly the largest representative of a group of crocodile-like animals called notosuchians.

Reconstruction of the jaws of Razanandrongobe sakalavae. /Photo provided by the scientists

"Like these and other gigantic crocs from the Cretaceous, 'Razana' could outcompete even theropod dinosaurs, at the top of the food chain", Cristiano Dal Sasso from the Natural History Museum of Milan said in a statement.

"In actual fact, it contributes to filling in a gap in the group's evolution, which contains a long ghost lineage in the Jurassic," the paper wrote. "It documents a dramatic, somewhat unexpected size increase in the early history of the group."

(Source: Xinhua)

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