Associated Press - November 19, 2009 3:04 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - A 20-foot-long crocodile with three sets of fangs - like wild boar tusks - roamed parts of northern Africa millions of years ago.
That's according to researchers Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago and Hans Larsson of McGill University in Montreal.
They say the fearsome creature hunted meat, while not far away another newly found type of croc with a wide, flat snout like a pancake was fishing for food. And a smaller, 3-foot-long relative with buckteeth was chomping plants and grubs in the same region.
The researchers detailed the three new species, along with new examples of 2 previously known ancient crocodiles, at a news conference organized by the National Geographic Society today.
Sereno says the unusual animals lived 100 million years ago.
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