So I did a thing (new fossil crocodile that ate our ancestors) -
Last edited Sun Mar 15, 2026, 03:58 PM - Edit history (3)
I'm involved with this, sorta kinda:
https://www.discovermagazine.com/a-massive-pliocene-crocodile-may-have-hunted-lucy-and-other-early-hominins-3-million-years-ago-48801
Quick rundown - Hadar is a set of paleontological/paleoanthropological sites in the Afar region of Northeastern Ethiopia dating to between 3.0 and 3.5 million years ago. That's where Lucy is from - the female Australopithecus afarensis specimen discovered in 1974 that caused a real sensation. She was the most completely-known early human relative known at the time, and her remains are still central to our understanding of human origins.
I don't actually care about any of that. I don't do mammals. But the crocodile from the site turns out to be a new species, and the new publication names and describes it. Its name, Crocodylus lucivenator, basically means "hunter of Lucy."
It preserves a weird combination of character states that made it difficult to assess. At the moment, it's best viewed as part of an extinct radiation of crocodiles unrelated to the modern Nile crocodile that flourished in East Africa between 7.2 and 0.5 million years ago. But it also shares similarities with modern crocodiles, in particular those currently found in the Western Hemisphere (e.g. American Crocodile, Cuban crocodile, and so on).
To the casual observer, C. lucivenator would be neither more nor less exciting than any modern crocodile. But it was the largest predator in Lucy's ecosystem, and to the connoisseur of crocodile evolution, it tells an interesting story.
And by "involved with this, sorta kinda," I mean I'm the lead author. I know I shouldn't brag, but I don't get to very often these days.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Lead author is a pretty cool distinction! And a rather interesting find, at least I think so... and I'm an anthropologist. I actually met Dr Johanson in 1993, he came to speak at my college.
I like finding out about new discoveries.
The article, I didn't read the paper. That's some pretty good evidence with feeding markings on the humanoids. I think that's pretty cool.
