A 93-million-year-old crocodile has been discovered by scientists - with an infant dinosaur found in its stomach.
Experts have dubbed the creature Confractosuchus Sauroktonos or "broken crocodile dinosaur killer", with its last meal of a prehistoric baby still in the belly.
A report for Gondwana Research stated that the giant reptile grew to roughly 2.5m (6-8ft), with scientists believing it died after being caught in a flood.
The croc was reportedly 35% preserved with a "near-complete skull" and its impressive teeth still intact.
It was examined more closely by researchers using 3D scans and X-rays, according to the Mirror.
Joseph Bevitt, a co-author of the study, told Indy100: "In the initial scan in 2015, I spotted a buried bone in there that looked like a chicken bone with a hook on it and thought straight away that it was a dinosaur.
"Human eyes had never seen it previously, as it was, and still is, totally encased in rock.
"The fossilised remains were found in a large boulder. Concretions often form when organic matter, or say a crocodile, sinks to the bottom of a river."
Scientists believe it was preserved because the mud surrounding the creature hardened because of the bacteria which were present.
Scans of one boulder detected "bones of the small chicken-sized juvenile dinosaur in the gut", the species, however, has not been formally identified.
Dr Bevitt said: “In the initial scan in 2015, I spotted a buried bone in there that looked like a chicken bone with a hook on it and thought straight away that it was a dinosaur.”
He told Australian Nuclear Science and Technology (Ansto): “3D digital scans from the Imaging and Medical Beamline guided the physical preparation of the crocodile, which was impossible without knowing precisely where the bones were.”
The samples of rock had to be reduced to a size that X-rays could penetrate for high-quality scanning.
But the results of the team's work surprised even them and gave them an insight into what the reptile ate for its last meal.
This was remarkable in itself until the team discovered the contents of the croc's stomach contained a tiny dinosaur.
He said: “The results were outstanding in providing an entire picture of the crocodile and its last meal, a partially digested juvenile dinosaur.”
For confirmation the dinosaur was in the crocodile's stomach, the team analysed plant roots and geological features between the rock fragments.
“The chemistry of rock provided the evidence, said Dr Bevitt.
Scientists reckon the crocodile died in a flooding event where it was buried and died suddenly.
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