Galloping Crocodiles

[ysabetwordsmith]

Giant croclike carnivore fossils found in the Caribbean

Imagine a crocodile built like a greyhound -- that's a sebecid. Standing tall, with some species reaching 20 feet in length, they dominated South American landscapes after the extinction of dinosaurs until about 11 million years ago. Or at least, that's what paleontologists thought. A new study shows the Caribbean Islands were a refuge for the last sebecid populations at least 5 million years after they went extinct everywhere else.

LOL yes, I spotted those in Peculiar Obligations. Nice to know people have found them in the Caribbean here too, and later than expected.  They're often called galloping crocodiles or hooved crocodiles.  Here are some different examples.

Comments

Re: Hmm ...

[siliconshaman]

But the error bars mean it could be as fast if not faster than a greyhound. Certainly the biomechanics suggest it was evolved as a short-distance high speed pursuit predator... kind of like a cheetah.