With a dinosaur’s head, a crocodile’s body and teeth of a shark, it ruled the oceans 135myears ago. Meet ...
IT looks like a monster from a movie – so it’s no wonder that scientists have christened the fearsome beast on the right Godzilla.
But unlike the gigantic scaly star of countless Japanese horror films, this terrifying creature actually existed.
And 135million years ago, it was king of the oceans – making mincemeat of anything unlucky enough to get in its way.
Godzilla had the head of a dinosaur, the body of a crocodile and the fins of a fish and measured up to 13ft from nose to tail. Its 30in jaws were armed with interlocking serrated teeth up to four inches long.
Fossil remains of the predator, Dakosaurus andiniensis, were found in Patagonia, Argentina, in a region that was once a deep tropical bay.
Scientists were particularly struck by the animal’s unusual bulletshaped skull and massive jaws.
Technically, it was a marine crocodile – but one unlike any of its relatives.
Dr Diego Pol, from Ohio State University in the U.S., told the journal Science: ‘ This species was very unusual. Other marine crocodiles that were around at the same time had very delicate features – long, skinny snouts and needle-like teeth for catching small fish and molluscs. But this croc was just the opposite. It had a short snout, and large teeth with serrated edges. It was definitely a predator of large sea creatures.
‘ Everyone already knows about dinosaurs ruling the Earth millions of years ago.
‘ But in the same period, a large group of reptiles occupied and even dominated the oceans. We now know some really intriguing details about one of them.’
Professor Zulma Gasparini, who discovered the fossils, tells the December edition of National Geographic magazine: ‘ This sea croc reminded me of the famous Godzilla coming out of the sea. It ambushed large prey. It was a top predator.’
No other crocodile living towards the end of the Jurassic period was larger than Dakosaurus andiniensis, or as robust.
Unlike modern crocodiles, it lived entirely in the water, and had fishlike fins instead of legs.
Palaeontologists from the National University of La Plata in Argentina discovered the fossil bones of three specimens in 1996.
To start with, the unusual fossils presented a puzzle. Then Dr Pol used computer software to map the features of the bones and determine the creature’s lineage.
The teeth, designed like steak knives with serrated edges, resembled those of terrestrial dinosaurs and marked Dakosaurus andiniensis out as a hunter of large marine reptiles rather than fish.