... Australia used to have 'drop crocs'!
phys.org
'Unlike today's saltwater and freshwater crocodiles, mekosuchines filled strange ecological niches.
"It's a bizarre idea," says UNSW paleontologist Professor Michael Archer. "But some of them appear to have been terrestrial hunters in the forests."'
'Prof. Archer says some riverine species there grew to at least five meters long.
"Some were also apparently at least partly semi-arboreal 'drop crocs,'" he says.
"They were perhaps hunting like leopards—dropping out of trees on any unsuspecting thing they fancied for dinner."'
Australian 'drop crocs' unlock insights into ancient ecosystems
In a local grazier's backyard in the small southeast QLD town of Murgon, scientists have been digging for decades in what looks like an unremarkable clay pit. But within the clay lies one of Australia's oldest fossil sites—a window back in time to when the continent was still connected to...
'Unlike today's saltwater and freshwater crocodiles, mekosuchines filled strange ecological niches.
"It's a bizarre idea," says UNSW paleontologist Professor Michael Archer. "But some of them appear to have been terrestrial hunters in the forests."'
'Prof. Archer says some riverine species there grew to at least five meters long.
"Some were also apparently at least partly semi-arboreal 'drop crocs,'" he says.
"They were perhaps hunting like leopards—dropping out of trees on any unsuspecting thing they fancied for dinner."'
