The creature, officially named Paludirex vincenti, was more than five meters long and dominated waterways in southeast Queensland, according to a University of Queensland (UQ) press release issued Monday.
Researchers have identified the giant fossil crocodile dug in the 1980s near a town called Chinchilla.
The species is named after Geoff Vincent, who found a fossilized skull of the prehistoric animal. “Paludirex” means swamp king in Latin and “vincenti” honors Vincent, according to Ristevski,
“The king of the swamp was an intimidating hook,” Ristevski said in a press release. “Its fossilized skull measures about 65 centimeters, so we estimate that Paludirex vincenti was at least five meters long.”
The largest living crocodile, the Indo-Pacific crocodile – Crocodylus porosus – grows to about the same size, he added.
“But Paludirex had a wider and heavier skull, so it would have looked like an Indo-Pacific crocodile on steroids,” Ristevski said.
The species was one of Australia’s top predators when it lived and could have eaten huge prehistoric marsupials, according to the press release.
Two species of crocodile – Crocodylus porosus and Crocodylus johnstoni – still live in Australia today and it is unclear why Paludirex vincenti has disappeared.
“Whether Paludirex vincenti has disappeared as a result of competition with species such as Crocodylus porosus is hard to say,” said Steve Salisbury, a senior lecturer at the School of Biological Sciences and Ristevski’s supervisor at UQ.
“The alternative is that it disappeared as the climate dried up and the river systems it once inhabited contracted – we are currently investigating both scenarios.”
In September, a huge 4.4-meter saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) was caught at a remote tourist spot in northern Australia.
The crocodile, estimated to weigh 350 kilograms (350 kilograms), was captured by wild rangers at a trap in the Flora River Natural Park, a popular tourist destination southwest of Katherine.