Overview
- A peer-reviewed paper published online August 16, 2026 presents the first direct physical evidence that giant crocodylians attacked and consumed very large herbivores at La Venta in Colombia.
- Researchers analyzed four fossil bones from several large hoofed mammals that bear circular and bisected punctures, crushed bone and parallel grooves consistent with crocodylian bites.
- Morphological matching and force estimates point to Purussaurus neivensis as the likely attacker, with bite forces per tooth approaching figures near 40,000 newtons that can produce the observed damage.
- One jawbone shows a different set of parallel gouges that the team attributes to the smaller crocodylian Langstonia huilensis and interpret as a later scavenging event.
- The authors say these data, set against Miocene South America’s abundant megaherbivores and few large mammalian predators, imply giant crocodylians played a central role in shaping wetland food webs and herbivore populations.