Monster alligator in Amazon 8 million years ago
/ AP Photo
A “super alligator” bigger than many dinosaurs may have lived in the Amazon rainforest 8 million years ago, scientists believe.
Brazil news portal UOL reported on Sunday that university researchers discussedthe huge alligator in a recent paper published in a U.S-based online academic journal “PLOS ONE.”
The team said that the super alligator, called Purussaurusbrasiliensis, was similar in size to Tiranossaurorex, but with a much stronger bite.
The team started the research after a 1.4 meter fossil skull was found at Acre, Brazil, in 1986. The team said Purussaurusbrasiliensis may have been at the top of the food chain.
The Amazon rainforest encompasses 7 million square kilometers through eight _ Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Sixty percent of the foirest is in Brazil.