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Scientists Discover Partially Digested Dinosaur Remains Inside Belly Of New Crocodile Species

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ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images

Gretchen Clayson Reporter
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Scientists in Australia discovered the bones of a young dinosaur inside the fossilized remains of a new crocodile species known as Confractosuchus, Sky News reported Sunday.

The 95 million-year-old bones were excavated from a sheep station in Queensland in 2010 and were “densely packed in a chunk of rock,” according to Sky News. Using X-ray micro-CT scanning technologies, scientists were able to identify where the bones were located and build a 3D digital specimen, a process which took ten months.

Through that process, scientists not only found the partially preserved skeleton of the crocodile, but also the skeletal remains of a young ornithopod dinosaur inside its stomach. (RELATED: Well-Preserved Fossilized Dinosaur Egg Leaves Scientists Baffled)

“While Confractosuchus would not have specialised in eating dinosaurs, it would not have overlooked an easy meal, such as the young ornithopod remains found in its stomach. It is likely dinosaurs constituted an important resource in the Cretaceous ecological food web,” Dr. Matt White, a research associate at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum, said according to CNN.
“Given the lack of comparable global specimens, this prehistoric crocodile and its last meal will continue to provide clues to the relationships and behaviors of animals that inhabited Australia millions of years ago,” he added.
Because the bones of the young dinosaur were partially digested, scientists were unable to identify which species it was, though they described it as a” juvenile weighing nearly 1.7 kilos” or 3.7 pounds. At the time of its death, the crocodile was “2.5 meters long and still growing,” Dr. White said according to Sky News.