Scientists have just discovered the oldest crocodile eggshell in Australia. It belonged to a strange reptile that lived about 55 million years ago and, unlike its modern relatives, it could climb trees.
The fossil was found in a clay mine in Queensland. There are sediments from the era when this continent had not yet separated from Antarctica and South America.
Research has shown that this shell was left by representatives of an extinct group of Mekosuchinae crocodiles that dominated inland waters in ancient times.
The species was named Wakkaoolithus godthelpi in honor of the Wakka-Wakka tribe where the fossils were found.
The largest crocodiles are up to 5 meters in length. According to scientists, these reptiles live in forests and are hunters on the ground. Some of them even led a semi-arboreal lifestyle – they climbed onto tree branches and jumped from there to hunt, like modern leopards.
Extinct crocodiles lay eggs on the banks of water bodies. They adjust their reproductive strategies to changing environmental conditions. But the drying up of rivers and the decline in mass production took a serious toll on their population.
Scientists plan to continue excavations. They noted that the local forest was home to the world's oldest songbirds, Australia's earliest frogs and snakes, early bats and a variety of small mammals that migrated from South America, the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology reported.
Previously, an ancient Arctic rhino was discovered in Canada. He lived about 23 million years ago. This species was smaller than its modern relatives.
