"An ancient skull hints crocodiles swam from Africa to the" Topic

…Americas

"A resemblance between a long-lost African crocodile and modern American crocs goes beyond the shared bump on their snouts.

New analyses of a roughly 7-million-year old skull from the extinct Crocodylus checchiai suggest that crocodiles journeyed from Africa to the Americas millions of years ago, researchers report July 23 in Scientific Reports. Unearthed in the 1930s, the fossil came from what's now Libya and sat for decades in a museum. With CT scanning, scientists have now mapped the skull's structure, revealing hidden anatomical features that tie the animal closely to the four species of American crocodiles alive today…"
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Amicalement
Armand

What is interesting to me, but left out of this article, is that these ancient relatives of the American saltwater crocodiles may have been swimming around the Mediterranean Sea 7 million years ago. I wonder if this species was fairly harmless (except to fish), like the current American saltwater crocodile? The Asian saltwater croc on the other hand…..

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Croc armies anyone?

I wonder if this species was fairly harmless (except to fish), like the current American saltwater crocodile?

There is no official American saltwater crocodile but if you're talking about the American Crocodile {crocodylus acutus}, they are the most widely distributed crocodilians in the western and, while they are usually reclusive, there were 90 attacks, 20 fatal), along the Mexican coast alone in a six-year period (2008-13}.

Not very harmless, I think.

LT