Week in Geek - Giant reptile
The excavation site of the first specimen of the new crocodile-like species, Machimosaurus rex. These fossils were found in the Tataouine region of southern Tunisia, on the edge of the Sahara Desert. Credit: Federico Fanti/Bologna University
My weekly post for The Rachel Maddow Show.
Week in Geek: Giant reptile edition.
In a recently published paper in the Cretaceous Research journal (yes, you read that correctly), a team paleontologists report finding the fossilized bones of a giant crocodile in the Tunisian desert which overturns the accepted theory that its class of replies went extinct at the end of the Jurassic Period.
Based on fossil findings, the crocodile was an estimated 30 feet in length and likely weighed up to three tons. It has been christened Machimosaurus rex. Members of its group were thought to have gone extinct over 150 million years ago, but the fossil has been dated to 130 million years ago, so paleontologist will need to re-examine their evidence to explain this discrepancy.
Also features: contact lenses, Powerball, soap bubbles, and frickin' lasers.
Read the full article here.
