Scientists have unearthed Australia's oldest known crocodile eggshells which may have belonged to 'drop crocs' - creatures that climbed trees to hunt prey below.
The discovery of the 55-million-year-old eggshells was made in a sheep farmer's backyard in Queensland, with the findings published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
The eggshells belonged to a long-extinct group of crocodiles known as mekosuchines, who lived in inland waters when Australia was part of Antarctica and South America.
Co-author Prof Michael Archer stated that 'drop crocs' represented a 'bizarre idea', suggesting that these reptiles perhaps hunted like leopards, dropping out of trees onto unsuspecting prey.
Prof Archer, a palaeontologist at the University of New South Wales, revealed that mekosuchine crocodiles could grow up to five meters in length and were plentiful 55 million years ago, long before their modern saltwater and freshwater relatives arrived in Australia about 3.8 million years ago.
While the 'drop croc' eggshells were discovered several decades prior, they were only recently analyzed with collaborative efforts from scientists in Spain.
Further exploration into mekosuchine fossils has revealed that some may have also been semi-arboreal 'drop crocs'. Excavations in Murgon—a small town north-west of Brisbane—have provided rich fossil deposits, revealing a diverse ecosystem that included some of the world’s oldest songbirds and other notable fauna.
Prof Archer recalled the beginning of their research journey, stating how he and a colleague approached a farmer for permission to dig, leading to numerous discoveries since 1983.
'It's clear that with continued digging, we will uncover even more remarkable treasures from the prehistoric past.'
