What a man-eater!
Researchers have identified the largest crocodile in history — a 27-footer so big it likely swallowed early man in a single gulp.
The colossal crocs lived between two and four million years ago and their fossils were found in what is current day Kenya, according to research published this month in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
The new species — called Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni — is most closely related to Nile crocodiles, according to study leader Christopher Brochu, an associate professor of geosciences at the University of Iowa.
Back then, man was only about 4 feet tall.
“It lived alongside our ancestors, and it probably ate them,” Brochu said in a statement.
“We don’t actually have fossil human remains with croc bites, but the crocs were bigger than today’s crocodiles, and we were smaller, so there probably wasn’t much biting involved,” he said.
The largest living croc was found in the Philippines last year, measuring 20.3 feet long. Adult crocodiles can range from a few feet to more than 15 depending on the species.
