World’s Largest Marine Crocodile Remains Discovered in Sahara Desert

Fossils from the biggest ocean-living crocodile ever found have been discovered by scientists in the Tunisian desert. Paleontologists say this massive prehistoric predator would have been more than 30 feet long and likely weighed three tons – the skull alone measured more than five feet long.

However, this discovery lends more to science than just another new species: It is changing the way scientists view the mass extinction that is thought to have occurred at the end of the Jurassic period, 145 million years ago.

Aside from the size differential, it is believed that the animal resembled its smaller, modern counterpart in most other ways, but its snout was likely more narrow enabling the ancient creature to swim in the ocean.

Machimosaurus was believed to have died out during a mass extinction between the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods some 150 million years ago.

Unearthing dinosaur remains may be common, but fossil of largest ever marine crocodile isn’t common.

“We were very happy to find out that several skeletons of this new species were fossilized in very good condition”, Fanti told The Huffington Post.

Found buried only a few inches below sediment close to the edge of the Sahara Desert, the creature dubbedMachimosaurus rex has been deemed a water hunter that could either scavenge or ambush its meals, with a crushing bite force.

For this reason, the transition from the Jurassic period to the Cretaceous has been considered for a long time as a period of extinction at the global level. Researchers also found the remains of fish and turtles that they still need to identify.

University of Edinburgh paleontologist Stephen Brusatte, who was not involved with the new study, told National Geographic: “This is a neat new discovery from a part of the world that hasn’t been well-explored for fossils”.

While distant freshwater relatives are bigger than the Machimosaurus rex, it is believed the animal was the biggest ocean-dwelling member of the crocodile family.

While Machimosaurus Rex is not the biggest ancient crocodile charted, its discovery has led to debunk some of the preconceived notions about the genus.