麻豆淫院

A crocodile large enough to swallow humans once lived in East Africa, according to a University of Iowa researcher.

"It鈥檚 the largest known true crocodile,鈥� says Christopher Brochu, associate professor of geoscience. 鈥淚t may have exceeded 27 feet in length. By comparison, the largest recorded Nile crocodile was less than 21 feet, and most are much smaller.鈥�

Brochu鈥檚 paper on the discovery of a new crocodile species was just published in the May 3 issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The new species lived between 2 and 4 million years ago in Kenya. It resembled its living cousin, the Nile crocodile, but was more massive.

He recognized the new species from fossils that he examined three years ago at the National Museum of Kenya in Nairobi. Some were found at sites known for important human fossil discoveries. 鈥淚t lived alongside our ancestors, and it probably ate them,鈥� Brochu says. He explains that although the fossils contain no evidence of human/reptile encounters, crocodiles generally eat whatever they can swallow, and humans of that time period would have stood no more than four feet tall.

"We don鈥檛 actually have fossil human remains with croc bites, but the crocs were bigger than today鈥檚 crocodiles, and we were smaller, so there probably wasn鈥檛 much biting involved,鈥� Brochu says.

He adds that there likely would have been ample opportunity for humans to encounter crocs. That鈥檚 because early man, along with other animals, would have had to seek water at rivers and lakes where crocodiles lie in wait.

Regarding the name he gave to the new species, Brochu said there was never a doubt.

The crocodile Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni is named after John Thorbjarnarson, famed crocodile expert and Brochu鈥檚 colleague who died of malaria while in the field several years ago.

鈥淗e was a giant in the field, so it only made sense to name a giant after him,鈥� Brochu says. 鈥淚 certainly miss him, and I needed to honor him in some way. I couldn鈥檛 not do it.鈥�

Among the skills needed for one to discover a new species of crocodile is, apparently, a keen eye.

Not that the fossilized crocodile head is small鈥攊t took four men to lift it. But other experts had seen the fossil without realizing it was a new species. Brochu points out that the Nairobi collection is 鈥渂eautiful鈥� and contains many fossils that have been incompletely studied. 鈥淪o many discoveries could yet be made,鈥� he says.

In fact, this isn鈥檛 the first time Brochu has made a discovery involving fossils from eastern Africa. In 2010, he published a paper on his finding a man-eating horned crocodile from Tanzania named Crocodylus anthropophagus鈥攁 crocodile related to his most recent discovery.

Brochu says Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni is not directly related to the present-day Nile crocodile. This suggests that the Nile crocodile is a fairly young species and not an ancient 鈥渓iving fossil,鈥� as many people believe. 鈥淲e really don鈥檛 know where the Nile crocodile came from,鈥� Brochu says, 鈥渂ut it only appears after some of these prehistoric giants died out.鈥�