Crocodylus anthropophagus
Crocodylus anthropophagus is an extinct species of crocodile from the Pleistocene of Tanzania. It lived 1.84 million years ago.
Etymology
Crocodylus anthropophagus was first named by Christopher A. Brochu, Jackson Njau, Robert J. Blumenschine and Llewellyn D. Densmore in 2010. The specific name anthropophagus is from Greek word "anthropos" that means "human" and Greek word "phagos" that means "eater", in reference to the evidence that this animal included hominids in its diet.Taxonomy
The holotype specimen, NNHM-1001, comprises a skull and partial skeleton. All specimens were discovered in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, in two different rock formations dating to 1.845 and 1.839 million years ago in the Plio-Pleistocene. The cladogram below is from a 2021 study based on the finding of a new C. anthropophagus partial cranium.Description
The skeleton is consistent with living representatives of the genus. The axis vertebra has a projection on the underside which seems to have largely fused to the vertebra itself. The vertebrae are procoelous in shape, with a spherical projection extending from the back side which attaches to a concave socket on the front end of the preceding vertebra. The femora slightly bend in an S-shape. However, C. anthropophagus lacks the shallow bony pair of crests running from the eyes to the nose like in Indopacific Crocodylus, and lacks a boss on the middle of the snout like in Neotropical Crocodylus.The right premaxilla of the holotype preserved three tooth sockets, with a notable gap in between the first and second sockets. Another specimen's left maxilla preserved 13 circular sockets, though it may have partially preserved a 14th. There was a gap between the 9th and 10th. The teeth were all conical and lacked serrations.
It had two prominent, triangular "horns" over the ears.