The Prehistoric Croc Thread- Anything crocodilian related

Millions of years ago, several genera and species of crocodiles lived in Europe, and occassionally coexisted with each other. Among these, however, it was considered unlikely that the genus Crocodylus, of African origin, had ever lived in the Mediterranean.

The remains found in the Italian regions of Gargano, Tuscany and Scontrone during the last decades however confirm that they did. Now, a study published by the Journal of Paleontology supports this with more fossils of three-meter long crocodiles found at the Valencian fossil site Venta del Moro, dug up by researchers of the University of Valencia between 1995 and 2006- and which they assigned at one point to the species Crocodylus chechhiai.

Our comparisons show this material does not belong to the genera Duplocynodon- an alligatoroid genus similar to today's caiman- or Tomistoma- the false gharials-, the only other crocodilians known for the late Miocene of Europe.

However, due to the fragmentary nature of the remains, the analysis of the skull bones, isolated teeth and osteoderms (bone plates) suggests they could belong to the species C. checchiai, as originally assigned, but its taxonomy is still unclear. In any case the morphology fits genus Crocodylus.

The remains would be the first Crocodylus from the Iberian penninsula and support the expansion of this genus from Africa to Europe during the late Miocene. The discovery of two individuals rather than one indicates there was a population at the site (as opposed to a vagrant that ended up away from home).

In their "conquest", these reptiles expanded particularly around the Mediterranean, as the remains have been found in Spain and Italy. All locations where crocodilians have been found were back then near the northern coastline of the Mediterranean, thus making it easy to access by crocodiles traveling by sea.

They are likely to have inhabited the coasts of Murcia and Andalusia, and perhaps even Catalunya and the Balearic islands.

But how did crocodiles arrive from the African coasts? The researchers suggest they swam from one continent to the next before Africa and Europe were connected. This idea would be supported by modern crocodile behavior, as they are good swimmers that can reach up to 32 km/h.

An example is today's saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), which goes far into the open sea reaching islands and even continents, as has happened between Oceania and the south east of Asia. One needs only see how easily they have traveled to even the Solomon islands of the French Polynesia.

But there are more clues that support the hypothesis. The anatomical similarities suggest Crocodylus checchiai, of Lybia and Kenya, is the ancestor of American crocodiles. This suggests crocodiles even crossed the Atlantic during the Miocene, explaining the presence of the genus in the New World.

As such, in the case of the Venta del Moro specimens, swimming between Africa and Europe would not have taken them a particularly great effort.