Crocodylus anthropophagus, andibular remains referred to Crocodylus anthropophagus. KNM BKII OLD 1960: left postdentary bones and posterior end of dentary, medial (A) and lateral (B) view; KNM FLKNI, dentaries and portion of right splenial, dorsal view (C); NHM R.5893, left dentary and splenial, medial (D) and lateral (E) view. Scale = 5 cm. Superregnum: Eukaryota
Postcranial material referred to Crocodylus anthropophagus. A, KNM DK I B, left scapula, lateral view; B, NHM R.5894, ?nuchal osteoderm; C, KNM DK I B OLD 62 54, right humerus, ventral view; D, KNM FLKNI, right femur, ventral view. Scale = 5 cm. Name Crocodylus anthropophagus Brochu, Njau, Blumenschine & Densmore, 2010 Type specimen * Holotype: NNHM-OLD-1001, partial skull and skeleton
* Brochu CA, Njau J, Blumenschine RJ, Densmore LD (2010) A New Horned Crocodile from the Plio-Pleistocene Hominid Sites at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. PLoS ONE 5(2): e9333. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009333 Crocodylus anthropophagus is an extinct species of crocodile from Plio-Pleistocene from Tanzania.[1] It lived 1.84 million years ago.[1]
The specific name anthropophagus is from Greek word "anthropos" that means "human" and Greek word "phagos" that means "eater", in reference to the evidence that this animal included hominids in its diet.[1] Distribution The type locality is Plio-Pleistocene, Olduvai Gorge in the northern Tanzania.[1] Its type locality is near the type localities for the hominids Homo habilis and Paranthropus boisei.[1] Description The description is based on a partial skull and skeleton.[1] It had prominent triangular “horns” over the ears and a relatively deep snout, these resemble those of the recently extinct Malagasy crocodile Voay robustus, but the Crocodylus anthropophagus lacks features found among osteolaemines and shares derived similarities with living species of Crocodylus.[1] Paleoecology Crocodylus anthropophagus was the largest predator encountered by human ancestors at Olduvai Gorge, as indicated by hominid specimens preserving crocodile bite marks from these sites.[1] References This article incorporates CC-BY-2.5 text from the reference.[1] 1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Brochu C. A., Njau J., Blumenschine R. J., Densmore L. D. (2010) "A New Horned Crocodile from the Plio-Pleistocene Hominid Sites at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. PLoS ONE 5(2): e9333. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009333 Source: Wikipedia, Wikispecies: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License |
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