Fossils discovered 5 crocodile species 100 million years

A team of archaeologists from the United States and Canada has announced the discovery of fossils of five primitive crocodiles that not only swim but can also be trotted on land in northern Africa 100 million years ago.

Paleontologist Paul Sereno, of the University of Chicago (USA), unearthed primitive crocodile fossils in a series of expeditions in early 2000 in remote areas of rocks in Morocco and Niger in the region. Sahara desert region with the support of the National Geographic Society. They were named wild boar crocodile (BoarCroc), crocodile cake (PancakeCroc), rat crocodile (RatCroc), crocodile dog (DogCroc) and duck crocodile (DuckCroc).

These 'trotting' crocodiles used to roam with dinosaurs in the Cretaceous period, they could stand with their feet, help them run, leap across the plains (while the crocodiles today crawling on the shore with belly) and their tail is very flexible, acting as a flippers when they wade in the water, ' said paleontologist Paul Sereno.

Most of these primitive crocodile fossils were found near the 12-meter SuperCroc fossil site, weighing about 8 tons, living 110 years ago, which palaeontologist Paul Sereno discovered. year 2001.

'We were surprised to find many primitive crocodile fossils at the same location in the Sahara desert region. Each crocodile species has different diets and different behaviors. They divide each ecological region to live and each species takes advantage of its own advantages according to their size, ' said paleontologist Hans Larsson, University of Montreal (Canada), a member of the archeology team. .

Below is the model of primitive crocodiles:

Paul Sereno paleontologist makes the super crocodile jaw shape, holding the head model of a dog crocodile

Wild boar crocodile

The crocodile is about 1 meter long

Crocodile cake, it is about 1 meter long and its favorite dish is fish

Original dog crocodile

Duck crocodile is about 1 meter long, unlike modern crocodiles, it goes upright thanks to its extended legs