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Experts are now saying that Allosaurus likely devoured its prey in a manner not dissimilar from that of modern-day falcons.

The iconic Tyrannosaurus rex is believed to have handled its prey like an alligator, by jerking it from side-to-side in its powerful jaws. Computer-generated simulations are now indicating that T. rex’s Jurassic cousin, Allosaurus preferred to strip flesh from bone with bird-like tugging motions.

Headed by Ohio University paleontologist Eric Snively, a team of experts in biomechanics, computer visualization, and dinosaur anatomy were able to generate models that provided them with insight into the eating mechanics of this prehistoric beast. Allosaurus’ muscle placement and bone structure echoed characteristics of modern predatory birds that are essential to how they kill and eat. 

The Ohio University team plans to apply their method to additional dinosaurs in order to learn more about their feeding habits.

photo credit http://news.nationalgeographic.com

New evidence about the remains of a behemoth crocodile discovered in the 1960s, in the Lake Turkana Basin in Kenya, have come to light paleontologists say.

Study leader Christopher Brochu cites this croc to be the largest known true crocodile that ever lived.  Other giant crocodyliforms may have grown up to 40-foot-long, but this fossil, a direct ancestor of the modern Nile croc could have reached lengths of 27-foot.

The scientists hypothesize that one of Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni’s main food sources was early man.  Smaller than modern man, our four-foot-tall ancestors would easily have been swallowed whole by these river monsters.

Crocodiles now and then have incredible digestive systems that would have devoured every bit of a skeleton leaving no fossils.  Alex Hastings, of the University of Florida, who discovered a prehistoric crocodile species in 2011, speculates that these crocs may have been apex predators.  And man was not always the most powerful animal in the jungle.

Brochu hopes, above all else, that evidence such as this new crocodile, puts the final bucket of water on a wicked witch of an idea that crocodiles are living fossils.  That somewhere they have escaped the usual evolutionary trail is simply not true.  Crocodile’s “evolution is just as complex and rich as [that of] any other group,” Brochu said.

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