Researchers have found the oldest crocodile eggshells in Australia, which reveal an ancient version of the species may have climbed trees to hunt their prey.
The fossilised fragments were found in the backyard of a grazier in the small Queensland town of Murgon, about 247km north-west of Brisbane, by an international research team, including palaeontologists from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).
The fossils reveal evidence of mekosuchine crocodiles that roamed Australia 55 million years ago.
Virtual reconstruction of the Murgon paleoecosistem during the early eocene, 55 Mya. (Supplied)
By contrast, modern saltwater and freshwater crocodiles only arrived in Australia 3.8 million years ago.
The specific species of mekosuchine found in Queensland has been called Wakkaoolithus godthelpi, and experts said they were far different to modern crocodiles.
“It’s a bizarre idea, but some of them appear to have been terrestrial hunters in the forests,” UNSW palaeontologist Professor Michael Archer said.
“Some were also apparently at least partly semi-arboreal ‘drop crocs’.
“They were perhaps hunting like leopards, dropping out of trees on any unsuspecting thing they fancied for dinner.”
The palaeontological team from UNSW excavating the Tingamarra fossil deposit at Murgon. (Mina Bassarova)
The latest discovery is not the only mekosuchine to be found in Queensland, with fossils estimated to be 25 million years old found in the Boodjamulla National Park in north-western Queensland.
Archer said the findings revealed the ancient crocodiles could have reached huge sizes, up to five metres long.
Modern crocodiles found in Australia are usually around four metres long if they are male, or three metres long if they are female.
