For those, like us, who have a fascination with dinosaurs and giant creatures that ruled the earth back in the days of the Jurassic era, paleontologist Zulma Gasparini of Argentina's National University of La Plata and her distinguished colleagues have an announcement to make. On Thursday, November 10th 2005, nearly ten years after its discovery, Gasparini reported in the subscription-only Science Express, that a 135 million year-old crocodile-like creature called a Dakosaurus andiniensis was uncovered in the Patagonia region of Argentina.

The title of her report? An Unusual Marine Crocodyliform from the Jurassic-Cretaceous Boundary of Patagonia

In 1996, a complete skull was found by biostratigraphy students of the Geological Sciences Department (University of Buenos Aires).

Three fossil specimens were actually found -- one on farmland in the Mendoza province of Patagonia , and two in a rock formation in Neuquen province to the south.

Gasparini, Gasparini's colleague Dr. Luis A. Spalletti and Dr. Diego Pol of The Ohio State University, spent nearly a decade studying the skull. Their research has given scientists a new understanding of this ancient marine reptile.

The "Godzilla" Bad Boy of Crocodiles

Gasparini said the "animal's anatomy is really a contrast with that of the other sea crocs that developed during the Jurassic."

This ancient crocodile-like sea monster was approximately thirteen feet long.

It had a short snout and a mouthful of deadly teeth.

Other marine crocodiles had long snouts with many small teeth.

Try to imagine a Godzilla-like sea creature with the head of a dinosaur, the body of a crocodile, four flippers and the tail of a fish.

Photo Credit: Diego Pol, Ohio State University

Dr. Diego Pol, a post doctoral researcher at Ohio State's Mathematical Biosciences Institute and the Department of Biomedical Informatics (BMI), said:

The long narrow snout and small teeth of most crocs indicate feeding on small prey, while Dakosaurus' large serrated teeth indicate a carnivore that would have hunted large prey.

Diego Pol, Ph.D.

Pol is one of a growing number of scientists who are using todays powerful computers to confront grand challenges in the life sciences. While he spends most of his time developing software to map the genes of living creatures, from bacteria to humans, to show how different species are related, he used similar techniques to study the relationships of the new raptor.

Because fossils don't preserve DNA, Pol mapped the dinosaur's anatomical and skeletal characteristics to place it on the raptor family tree.

Predator of Large Sea Creatures on The Crocodile Family Tree

The BMI Post Doctoral Researcher added:

It is one of the most evolved members of the crocodilian family and also one of the most bizarre.

This is the most remarkable change in the size and shape of the teeth and snout in the history of marine crocs.

The Dakosaurus would dive into the ocean and then surface regularly for oxygen.

Instead of legs, Dakosaurus had four paddle-like limbs and a vertically oriented, fishlike tail.

His massive jaws and jagged teeth would have made him the most fearsome predator in the sea; T-Rex included.

Gasparini said:

We are calling him the 'chico malo' -- 'bad boy'" of the ocean.

The Dakosaurus andiniensis has also been referred to by his or her discoverers as "Godzilla".

The Jaws of Under-Water Jurassic Park

The Jaws of Under-Water Jurassic Park was found in a deep tropical bay.

Other creatures that lived in these shallow seas included the plesiosaur and the giant ichthyosaurs. The Loch Ness monster-like plesiosaur had a 20-foot long neck. The ichthyrosaurs is believed to have been 75-feet long.

In the Journal of Paleontoloty, Gasparini and her colleagues wrote this past July:

The largest amount and diversity of Jurassic marine reptiles of the Southern Hemisphere was found in northwestern Patagonia, in the Neuquen Basin...

This specimen confirms the presence of marine crocodiles in the Middle Jurassic of Argentina, and is the first record of a metriorhynchid in the Late Bathonian of the Eastern Pacific.

Short Stout Snout

Science Express states:

Crocodiles are one of the most successful reptilian predators, inhabiting both freshwater lakes and rivers as well as marine environments. They evolved during the late Permian and early Mesozoic and became widespread during the Cretaceous, and one common characteristic has been their large, long snout containing numerous teeth. Gasparini et al. now describe an unusual crocodyliform from Patagonia dating to about 140 million years ago. It has a stout head and jaw, but each jaw contains only about one dozen large serrated teeth. This morphology is similar to that of some terrestrial archosaurs and greatly expands the evolutionary morphology of crocodyliforms.

Gasparini, Pol and Spalletti's research was funded by the National Geographic Society and Argentina's National Council of Scientific and Technical Research.

Look for details of their discovery in the December issue of National Geographic Magazine.

The Metriorhynchus aka Dakosaurus andiniensis aka Dakosaurus aka D. andiniensis aka Godzilla aka Chico Malo Crocodile aka Bad Boy aka Jurassic Jaws sure has been given a lot of names.

And rightfully so, given his stature and bizarre characteristics.

Do you suppose Steve Parker will include the Dakosaurus andiniensis in the next edition of his book "Dinosaurus: The Complete Guide to Dinosaurs"? Hopefully so!

Congratulations Zulma Gasparini, Dr. Luis A. Spalletti, Dr. Diego Pol and all those involved in supporting this exciting new discovery.

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, living "vicariously through paleontologists and computer geniuses!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King, Rugged Elegance, LLC