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Gettyimages.ru Christian Miller
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A new study has identified a new species of prehistoric crocodile that is over 5 meters tall and was one of the top predators several million years ago.
Scientists discovered the huge crocodile called the “king of the swamp” that terrorized ancient waters a few million years ago, in Queensland, Australia, since the eighties, but only recently could they get a clear idea of the size of this beast, after to examine the fossilized skull that was Its length is about 65 cm.
The new type of prehistoric reptile is called Paludirex vincenti, which is Latin for King of the Swamp Vincent, after the late paleontologist Geoff Vincent.
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According to the study’s lead author, Giorgio Restievsky of the University of Queensland, “the king of the swamps was one of the fearsome crocodiles.” Its fossil skull measured about 65 cm, so scientists estimated that Paludirex vincenti was at least five meters long.
The largest crocodile today is the Indian and Pacific crocodile Crocodylus porosus, which grows to about the same size. But the King of the Swamps had a wider and thicker skull. Due to its huge head, this reptile is believed to have been one of Australia’s most dangerous predators, and was able to hunt even giant marsupials in prehistoric times.
“The Darling Downs Queensland waterways were once a very dangerous place because of that,” Restievsky added.
The new study has been published in the scientific journal PeerJ.
It is not yet known why these huge crocodiles became extinct while their relatives reached our days. Scientists think they may have disappeared as a result of competition with other species, or due to changes in climate, when the river systems in which they inhabited dried up.
Source: Fox News
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