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Argentine researchers unveiled a new species of carnivorous crocodile from southern Patagonia, a robust, mostly terrestrial predator that lived about 70 million years ago and likely hunted small to medium-sized dinosaurs, according to a study published in PLOS One on Wednesday (August 27). Named Kostensuchus atrox, the animal belonged to the extinct Peirosauridae family and was discovered near El Calafate in Santa Cruz Province by a team led by paleontologists Fernando Novas and Diego Pol, in collaboration with Japanese researchers. The specimen includes an exceptionally preserved, nearly complete skull approximately 50 cm (20 inches) long, along with much of the skeleton, the researchers said. “It was a crocodile that was more terrestrial than crocodiles living today,” said Novas, a researcher with CONICET and Fundacion Felix de Azara, in an August 21 interview. He described it as a predator with enormous teeth and said the team assumes it preyed on dinosaurs. With a skull nearly 50 cm long and a total body length exceeding 3 meters (10 feet), Kostensuchus was likely an apex predator capable of taking a wide range of prey. Its skull was unusually short, broad and robust compared to close relatives; the snout was wide and heavily built, bearing more than 50 sharp teeth — some over 5 cm (2 inches) long — with serrated, blade-like edges adapted for slicing through muscle tissue. A deep lower jaw indicates powerful bite muscles, a feature the authors say supports its role as a dominant predator in Late Cretaceous Patagonia. Novas contrasted Kostensuchus with modern aquatic crocodilians, noting the high skull, side-facing eyes and forward-oriented nostrils indicate a more terrestrial lifestyle. “These were more terrestrial,” he said. “The skull was high; the eyes did not point upward, but to the sides, and the nostrils were oriented forward.” Researchers say the discovery adds to evidence that crocodiles in Cretaceous South America filled a wide range of ecological niches before the mass extinction 66 million years ago that wiped out non-avian dinosaurs and many marine animals. “This family of crocodiles also became extinct 66 million years ago,” Novas said. (Production: Claudia Martini, Miguel Lo Bianco, Gloria Lopez, Andrea Rodriguez)

Argentine researchers unveiled a new species of carnivorous crocodile from southern Patagonia, a robust, mostly terrestrial predator that lived about 70 million years ago and likely hunted small to medium-sized dinosaurs, according to a study published in PLOS One on August 27, 2025.

Argentine researchers unveiled a new species of carnivorous crocodile from southern Patagonia, a robust, mostly terrestrial predator that lived about 70 million years ago and likely hunted small to medium-sized dinosaurs, according to a study published in PLOS One on August 27, 2025.

New species of ancient crocodile discovered in southern Patagonia

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New species of ancient crocodile discovered in southern Patagonia

Reuters

Published Aug 28, 2025 12:50 PM PHT

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Kostensuchus atrox

ancient crocodile

El Calafate in Santa Cruz Province

southern Patagonia

Argentina

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