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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Vishwam Sankaran

Scientists discover crocodile ancestor species

  • Scientists have identified a new "hypercarnivore" crocodile-relative species, Kostensuchus atrox, in Argentina.
  • The fossil, discovered in Argentina's Chorrillo Formation, dates back approximately 70 million years to the late Cretaceous period.
  • Kostensuchus atrox was an apex predator, estimated to be around 3.5 metres long and weighing 250 kg.
  • Its powerful jaw and large teeth enabled it to prey on medium-sized dinosaurs, making it the second-largest predator known from the site.
  • This species was an extinct peirosaurid crocodyliform, related to modern crocodiles, and not a dinosaur.

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