Two articles on the real-life ''CrocoDuck''

By TELEGRAPH.CO.UK AND CBSNEWS.COM
Added: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 UTC

Thanks to Peter for the link.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/dinosaurs/6609636/Fossils-of-dinosaur-era-crocodiles-found-in-Sahara.html

Fossils of dinosaur-era crocodiles found in Sahara

Unlike their modern cousins, the ancient crocodilians were as agile on land as they were in the water.

They were reptiles like the dinosaurs, but belonged to a completely separate lineage that continues to this day.

The crocodiles once ran and swam across present-day Niger and Morocco, when the region was covered by lush plains and broad rivers.

Scientists found the newly-identified fossils at a number of sites in the Sahara desert. Many were uncovered at one location, lying on the surface of a remote and windswept stretch of rock and dunes.

Expedition leader Professor Paul Sereno, from the University of Chicago, has previously described the largest find, Sarcosuchus imperator, which measured 40 feet and weighed eight tons.

Popularly known as ''SuperCroc'', the giant carnivore was the biggest but not the strangest of the extinct creatures.

They were given nicknames by the scientists, based on their unusual physical features.

''BoarCroc'' (Kaprosuchus saharicus): A 20 feet upright meat-eater with an armoured snout and three sets of dagger-shaped fangs.

''RatCroc'' (Araripesuchus rattoides): Discovered in Morocco, this was a three-foot-long upright plant and grub-eater. It had a pair of lower jaw buckteeth which were used to dig for food.

''PancakeCroc'' (Laganosuchus thaumastos): This animal's fossils were found in Niger and Morocco. It was a 20-foot-long squat fish-eater with a three-foot-long pancake-flat head and spiky teeth on slender jaws.

''DuckCroc'' (Anatosuchus minor): A three-foot upright species that ate fish, frogs and grubs. It had a broad, overhanging snout and a long nose. Sensory areas on the snout helped it root around shallow waters for prey
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/dinosaurs/6609636/Fossils-of-dinosaur-era-crocodiles-found-in-Sahara.html
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Thanks to rod-the-farmer for the link.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/19/tech/main5710391.shtml

Fossils Shed Light on Ancient "Croc World"

(AP) A 20-foot-long crocodile with three sets of fangs - like wild boar tusks - roamed parts of northern Africa millions of years ago, researchers reported Thursday.

While this fearsome creature hunted meat, not far away another newly found type of croc with a wide, flat snout like a pancake was fishing for food.

And a smaller, 3-foot-long relative with buckteeth was chomping plants and grubs in the same region.

The three new species, along with new examples of two previously known ancient crocodiles, were detailed Thursday by researchers Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago and Hans Larsson of McGill University in Montreal. They spoke at a news conference organized by the National Geographic Society, which sponsored the research.

"These species open a window on a croc world completely foreign to what was living on northern continents," Sereno said of the unusual animals that lived 100 million years ago on the southern continent known as Gondwana.

Hans Dieter Sues of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History said the discovery revises the ideas of what crocodile-type reptiles were like.
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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/19/tech/main5710391.shtml