Scientists have found a 93-million-year-old crocodile - and its last meal.
The crocodile, which has been called the Confractosuchus Sauroktonos or "broken crocodile dinosaur killer", was found in Central Queensland with the remains of a baby dinosaur in its stomach.
Scientists, studying it in a report for Gondwana Research reckon the massive croc gew to around 2.5m (6-8ft) and believe it died in a flood.
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Scientists at ANSTO and @UniNewEngland have used nuclear techniques to shed light on the feeding habits of a 93 million-year-old crocodile that devoured a juvenile dinosaur based on fossilised stomach contents found in Central Queensland.\n\nhttps://www.ansto.gov.au/news/nuclear-techniques-confirm-rare-finding-crocodile-devoured-a-baby-dinosaur\u00a0\u2026\n\n#NCRIS #ANSTO— ANSTO (@ANSTO) 1644977024
35 per cent of the crocodile was preserved including a "near-complete skull" with its teeth and by using 3D scans and X-rays, researchers were able to look at it in more detail.
Joseph Bevitt, a co-author of the study, 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."
"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. Because the environment is rich in minerals, within days, the mud around the organism can solidify and harden because of the presence of bacteria."
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