McGill University
Meet Pissarrachampsa sera, a 70-million-year-old crocodile with a massive, toothy grin, a dog-like skull and long legs for galloping towards prey.

Given the number and size of its teeth, the carnivorous Pissarrachampsa is thought to have fed on animals of around five to six metres long, including fellow crocodiles and possibly even dinosaurs from the region.

The long-extinct monster's fossilised skull was found in the Cretaceous sediments in a small Brazilian town called Minas Gerais. Researchers from McGill University and University of Sao Paulo soon realised they had found something very special.


Pissarrachampsa's brainbox is helping to solve the tangled and complicated history of crocodile evolution. "We are dealing with an exceptionally divergent lineage of extinct crocodile diversity," said grad student Felipe Montefeltro. "There are many fossils that still need to be found to link this crocodile to those who came before and after."

The next step is to make a digital reconstruction of the fossil's brain cavity, to unlock more secrets about this ancient monster. The results will be presented later this fall at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's annual meeting.


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