Three New Croc Fossils Found in Sahara Desert

Ancient crocodiles roamed in what is now Sahara desert with dinosaurs, about 100 million years ago! The three bizarre looking crocodile species found recently, were named by researchers, according to their defining snouts as: Kaprosuchus saharicus or BoarCroc, Araripesuchus rattoides or RatCroc and Laganosuchus thaumastos or PancakeCroc. All the fossils were discovered in Morocco and Niger.

The new species, though nowhere as large as the 40 feet long, 8 ton SuperCroc found in 2001, measured 20 feet long (6 meters). However, fossils of Anatosuchus minor or DuckCroc and Araripesuchus wegeneri or DogCroc, that were unearthed previously, measured just 3 feet long (1 meter).

Researchers after observing living crocodiles from Australian freshwaters, say that the ancient crocodiles were agile creatures. They were able to walk (well, actually gallop!) on land, keeping their arms and legs under their body, much like upright mammals. They could also dive into the waters and swim like fish with the help of their tail.

Though, they lived in the same area, each of the three species had unique diets and behavior (and set of teeth!). BoarCroc used its armored snout to ram its prey (most likely, dinosaurs!) and three sets of dagger-shaped teeth for slicing. The flat-headed PancakeCroc would spend hours resting with its jaw open, ready to snap up its prey between its spike-shaped teeth. Its head alone was 3 feet long. RatCroc, the plant eater among them, had two buckteeth in the lower jaw to help it dig for food.

Of the smaller species, DuckCroc had an overhanging snout with sensory areas that helped to root prey like fish and frogs, while DogCroc with soft, dog-like nose preferred plants and grub.

CT scans done on skulls of DogCroc and DuckCroc have shown that they had broad, spade-shaped forebrains, very different looking from those of modern crocodiles. Researchers believe that the ancient crocodiles were far more intelligent than their living descendants.