Ancient, Man-Eating Crocodiles

If you think crocodiles are scary and dangerous now, take a moment to sympathize with our ancestors who had to contend with prehistoric crocs. The most recent ancient crocodile fossil to be unearthed measured in at 27-feet long - and scientists think it could have easily eaten humans (who only stood at about four feet)!

Skull of the ancient crocodile.

Prehistoric humans likely met a painful end when they ventured to the water to drink.
"It put our ancestors in a bad situation—you die if you don't drink, you may die if you do," said Christopher Brochu, an associate professor of geosciences at the University of Iowa, told National Geographic. "It's the roll of the dice."

"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.

Believe it or not, this crocodile, which was similar to a Nile crocodile, isn't the biggest fossil found! The Super Croc, discovered in 2001, measured at 40 feet long!

Manatee Fossils

Manatee fossils have been found around the world dating back to 60 million years ago; here in the United States, manatee fossils have been found in Florida that date back 45 million years ago. 

A scientist holds fossilized manatee teeth found in a Florida riverbed.

Although the manatees we know today are sea-faring creatures, they evolved from four-legged land mammals.