Experts: Ancient crocodile ate dinosaurs

CHICAGO, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Two paleontologists said at least one species of crocodiles that existed nearly 100 million years ago in Africa actually fed on dinosaurs.

University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno and Hans Larsson of Canada's McGill University said a 20-foot-long, saber-toothed crocodile dubbed the BoarCroc actually included dinosaurs in its diet, USA Today reported Thursday.

The findings of Sereno and Larsson appear in the online journal "ZooKeys" and will be featured in a November issue of National Geographic magazine and a National Geographic Channel show titled "When Crocs Ate Dinosaur."

"Africa really was a world of dinosaurs and crocodiles then," Soreno said of the five prehistoric crocodiles he and Larsson studied.

In addition to the BoarCroc, the report details how the so-called RatCroc was a 3-foot-long crocodile that only ate plants and lived in Morocco. The galloping DogCroc also fed on plants.

The paleontologists said the 20-foot-long PancakeCroc that lived in Niger and Morocco ate fish just like the 3-foot-long DuckCroc, USA Today reported.