Remains of Supercrocodile Discovered


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KANAB, Utah (AP) -- Scientists have uncovered the fossilized remains of 75.5 million-year-old supercrocodile in southern Utah.

Paleontologist Alan Titus from the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument says the 30-foot-long creature lived in fresh water and snacked on 10-foot sturgeons and land-dwelling dinosaurs.

Titus uncovered about a quarter of the creature's snout in June on the Kaiparowits Plateau.

He says the creature had a skull that measured about 4 feet in length and jagged, 5 inch teeth.

A preliminary study of the fossil indicates its from a previously unidentified species and could represent a new genus category.

Titus say it's the biggest crocodile fossil ever found in Utah.

The fossil is being cleaned and stabilized at a lab in Kanab. Eventually it will be housed at the Utah Museum of Natural History.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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