A huge crocodile 5 meters long has been identified, nicknamed “king of the swamp” that terrified ancient waters some millions of years ago.
The new species of prehistoric reptile, Paludirex vincenti (which in Latin means “king of the swamp, Vincent”, in honor of the late fossil collector Geoff Vincent) was discovered in Queensland, Australia, in the 1980s. they actually examined the fossilized skull 25 inches long to get an idea of the size of the beast.
“The ‘swamp king’ was an intimidating crocodile,” said the study’s lead author, University of Queensland, Ph.D. candidate Jorgo Ristevski, said in a statement.
“Its fossilized skull measures about 65 centimeters, so we estimate that Paludirex vincenti was at least five meters long. The largest crocodile today is the Indo-Pacific crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, which grows to almost the same size. But Paludirex had a crocodile wider, more heavy-structure skull to look like an Indo-Pacific crocodile on steroids. “
The ‘king of the swamp’ was an intimidating crocodile. (Credit: The University of Queensland)
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It is believed that the huge head allowed the huge reptile to hunt giant prehistoric marsupials, making it one of the biggest predators of its time.
“The Darling Downs channels were once a very dangerous place because of that,” added Ristevski.
The research was published in the scientific journal PeerJ.
Researchers have learned a lot about ancient crocodiles in the past few months. In June, experts identified the footprints of a 13-foot crocodile that lived between 110 and 120 million years ago and walked on two legs,
In February, a 7-foot-long “bone-crushing” crocodile – dubbed the “T. Rex of its time” – that walked on all fours, but used its hind legs to run 230 million years ago, was discovered in Brazil.
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In September 2019, fossils of a 30-foot crocodile-like creature that lived 210 million years ago and fed on dinosaurs and herbivorous mammals were discovered in southern Africa. Separately, in September 2019, the identity of a huge 15-foot prehistoric crocodile that lived 180 million years ago was duly identified almost 250 years after its fossils were first discovered.
In September 2018, researchers discovered an ancient type of crocodile that lived during the Jurassic period.