A 5 meter long monster crocodile ruled the waterways of south-east Queensland in Australia millions of years ago.
Researchers at the University of Queensland identified the reptilian giant – now called the “swamp king” – after examining its fossilized 25-inch-long (65 centimeters) skull, first discovered in the 1980s.
In Latin, the genus name Paludirex translates to “swamp king” and the species name to win was chosen in honor of the late Geoff Vincent, a resident of the town of Dalby in south-east Queensland who discovered the giant skull near the town of Chinchilla in Queensland.
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The largest modern crocodile is the Indo-Pacific saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), which can be about the same size. Their record size is even larger at over 20 feet (6 m), as determined by Lolong who died in captivity in the Philippines in 2013, according to CNN.
“But Paludirex had a wider, heavier skull, so it would have looked like an Indo-Pacific crocodile on steroids, ”Jorgo Ristevski, a PhD student at the University of Queensland’s School of Biological Sciences, said in a statement. According to the researchers, this would have enabled the giant crocodile to hunt oversized prehistoric marsupials and make it one of the best predators in Australia.
The Swamp King probably originated around the same time as modern crocs – in the last 55 million years. More research is now being done to determine how these huge crocodiles died, while their leaner relatives remained.
“Or Paludirex wins extinct due to competition with species such as Crocodylus porosus is hard to say, ”said Steve Salisbury, a senior lecturer at the University of Queensland and co-author of the study, in the statement. “The alternative is that it died out as the climate dried up, and the river systems it once inhabited are shrinking,” he explained, adding, “we are currently exploring both scenarios.”
The findings were published in the journal Dec. 21 PeerJ.
Originally published on Live Science.