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Study Names 'Lucy’s Hunter,' A Pliocene Crocodile From Ethiopia

Researchers used 121 fossils from Hadar to characterize a large, odd-snouted ambush predator.

Researchers led by the University of Iowa have described and named a new crocodile species that roamed a region in Africa more than 3 million years ago. The species is named Lucy’s hunter, because it overlapped with the famed Lucy and her hominin kin and would have hunted them.

Overview

  • Dated to roughly 3.4–3.0 million years ago, Crocodylus lucivenator occupied the Hadar Formation alongside Australopithecus afarensis.
  • The authors infer it likely preyed on early hominins at watering holes, though no direct fossil evidence of a hominin kill is reported.
  • Adults are estimated at 12–15 feet and 600–1,300 pounds, featuring a raised snout hump and an elongated rostrum possibly used in display.
  • One lower jaw shows partially healed injuries consistent with crocodile-on-crocodile face-biting, indicating intraspecific combat.
  • The study, published March 12 in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, contends the species was Hadar’s only crocodilian and the ecosystem’s largest predator.