Researchers finished reconstructing the skull of an ancient crocodile species in Australia and discovered its last meal in the process.
The confractosuchus sauroktonos, or the “broken dinosaur killer,” had caught a young ornithopod before its death, according to a new paper published in the scientific journal Gondwana Research. This revelation confirmed paleontologists‘ theories that crocodiles living in ancient history may have consumed dinosaurs.
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The fossil, which paleontologists had excavated in 2010, was finally pieced together, revealing that the newly identified specimen had feasted on a young dinosaur before its demise.
The diets of ancient crocodiles have been difficult to confirm. While diets can often be “inferred from distinctive bite-marks on fossilized bone,” the article’s authors argue, finding preserved contents in a creature’s gut has been “elusive.” That’s why this paper has significance.
“While Confractosuchus would not have specialized in eating dinosaurs, it would not have overlooked an easy meal, such as the young ornithopod remains found in its stomach,” said Dr. Matt White, a researcher at the museum.
The crocodile sample, which researchers had initially found in a siltstone mass, had been crushed. However, the number of bones left behind accounted for 35% of the skull, allowing researchers to determine what the creature looked like.
After several X-rays and scans, scientists were able to construct a near-complete replica of the skull. White estimates that the crocodile was a freshwater species based in Australia and that it was 2.5 meters or more than 8 meters in length.
While the researchers were unable to identify the particular dinosaur species within the crocodile’s stomach, they determined that it was juvenile and weighed 1.7 kilograms.
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The revelation of this creature’s last meal offers a closer look at what sort of place the crocodile may have played in the local ecosystem. “Given the lack of comparable global specimens, this prehistoric crocodile and its last meal will continue to provide clues to the relationships and behaviors of animals that inhabited Australia millions of years ago,” White said.
The specimen will eventually be displayed at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum.
