Thursday, March 28

They discover a dinosaur-killing crocodile | Digital Trends Spanish


A group of Australian researchers announced the discovery of a new species of crocodile from the Cretaceous period, known as Conflictosuchus sauroktonos.

The Australian Museum of the Age of Dinosaurs in Winton (AAOD) reported that the fossilized bones were preserved within a soft siltstone concretion.

Australian Age of Dinosaurs / Dr Julius Csotonyi

These remains were found near the Winton Formation, a 95-million-year-old geological deposit.

Because the small bones found were too fragile to be removed, the scientists used neutron and synchrotron X-ray microtomography scanning techniques to identify the bone material.

Researchers used the scan data to make a 3D reconstruction of the bones of the Conflictosuchus sauroktonosin a process that took about 10 months of computer processing to make the digital sample.

The investigation showed that inside the stomach of the contractosuchus There were the remains of a bird-hipped dinosaur, known as an ornithopod. According to the researchers, the species weighed 1,700 grams, but its weight could not be known precisely as it was partially digested.

“While Confractosuchus wouldn’t have specialized in eating dinosaurs, it wouldn’t have missed an easy meal, like the remains of the young ornithopod found in its stomach,” explained AAOD’s Matt White.

“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.”

The researchers also indicate that the crocodile found was about 2.5 meters long at the time of its death.

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