The largest crocodile ever lived in Australia

a study Posted in Scientific Reports He identified a type of prehistoric crocodile that would have lived between two and five million years ago in Australia, and more specifically in the Queensland Channels, in the southeastern part of the continent: Gunggamarandu maunala, Literally Lord of the river with a pierced head (Referring to the openings on the skull)It is believed to be the largest crocodile species that ever lived in Australia, and some specimens are estimated to have reached seven meters in length.

Ancient discoveries and modern technologies. The animal skull fossil has not been discovered recently, but has been kept in the Queensland Museum for nearly 150 years: it was 1875 when it was discovered, but at that time there were not enough advanced techniques to study and reconstruct its details. Morphology. thanks for the tomography, which allowed researchers to digitally reconstruct animal anatomy, we have now finally been able to discover new details about this extinct species, which belongs to a subfamily of crocodiles called crocodiles. Tomistomenae. So far, Australia has been the only place, with the exception of Antarctica, where no fossil remains of Tomistominae have been found.

drought and extinction. Experts do not know for sure what caused the extinction of G. Munala, but they suspect that the main cause was the drought that affected the Australian continent in the past millions of years: “Australia has gradually dried up, especially in Stephen Salisbury, one of the authors,” explains Stephen Salisbury, one of the authors, The last hundred thousand years.” “The great river systems have disappeared, and with them the crocodiles that lived there.”