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"QUANTUM SHOT" #601
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      National Geographic announced the discovery of five ancient crocs,
        including one with teeth like boar tusks and another with a snout like a
        duck’s bill.

      This discovery was made by National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Paul
      Sereno and recently featured on the National Geographic Channel as part of
      the "Expedition Week" series -
      click here
      for more info.
      
      Even though the episode aired already, we just could not pass the
      opportunity to share with you exclusive pictures of these incredible croc
      monsters walking on the face of the Earth several hundred millions years
      ago and eating... dinosaurs for breakfast:

      
      
      (Boar Croc roaring. It went after larger prey and its head was
        outfitted with even more impressive weaponry. It had over-sized triple
        set of canines and a massively armored nose that it could have used for
        butting prey. So it was battering as well as shredding dinosaurs that
        crossed its path.)

      Back when crocodiles were the ruling T. Rexes of the waters.

      They galloped on land, ambushed prey at the river’s edge … even terrorized
      dinosaurs. And more, these swift predators evolved through the ages into
      the modern crocs we know today:

      
      (A saltwater crocodile jumps out of the water for bait. The largest
        living crocodilians on earth are saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up
        to 20 feet long and weigh over 200 pounds.)

      Now, armed with newly discovered prehistoric crocodile bones,
      Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Paul Sereno is determined to bring the ancient
      creatures to life — and tell their fantastic untold story. Learn about a
      croc that pursued prey across land, a supercroc that locked its jaws
      around dinos, with a startlingly canine face. Blending art, forensics and
      biology, a team reanimates a lost world of strange Cretaceous crocs that
      paleontology forgot.
      
Even relatively small "duck" crocodiles were the "stuff of nightmares": (A model of prehistoric "duck" crocodile - all images are courtesy and copyright by National Geographic) And yet somehow... cute, in a perverse way: Duck Croc had an exaggerated forebrain; its flat-billed, pinnochio-nosed head and long, sleek leg bones more suited to something upright and fleet of foot: Monsters on the prowl (pursuing their prey across land): Dog Croc had a very large forebrain: the thinking, sensing part of the brain. Its brain indicates that it not only looked like a dog, it probably lived like one as well: Pancake Croc mouth open. At 20 feet long, as big as the largest crocs alive today Pancake Croc looked dangerous. It had a 3-foot long set of jaws that were actually thin, fragile and underpowered. Its jaws were only designed to open and shut and not to tussle with big prey: Rat Croc digging for food in a rotting log. It was a little buck-toothed, snub-nose creature, that was maybe two feet long: Strange fossils give us evidence that ancient crocodilian behemoths lived beside the dinosaurs...and ate them as snacks! Here is a CGI rendition of a duel between a Super Croc and a Suchomimus. The Sarcosuchus imperator, or flesh crocodile emperor was so enormous that Explorer in Residence Paul Sereno nicknamed the beast Super Croc. Scientists speculate that this reptilian terror possessed enough force and bulk to take down large dinosaurs: (A boar croc bites Nigersaurus - all images are courtesy and copyright by National Geographic) This is truly spectacular video: an unforgettable encounter between a dinosaur and a monstrous crocodile springing from the depths... Link For more info and visual material click the episode's site here. CONTINUE TO "KOMODO DRAGONS: THEY EAT MEAT" ->



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2 Comments:

Anonymous Sham said...

Nice post.
By the way, Saltwater Crocodile can weight over 2000 pounds, not "only" 200.

___  
Anonymous lolostefanis said...

Wow...i want to be an Explorer in Residence too!

___  

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