Later Purussaurus species reached 43 feet (13 meters). With powerful jaws and teeth, 26-foot Purussaurus neivensis was the neighborhood bully. Over time, crocodiles evolved a dazzling array of skull shapes, feeding adaptations and body sizes,” Flynn said. “This mega-wetlands system fostered unusually rich communities of aquatic prey species. The researchers said seven croc species could coexist because they shared an elaborate environment with plenty of food and were not all chasing the same prey. “Regarding the Amazon, we are just grasping the surface of an extremely complex and fascinating history,” said Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi, vertebrate paleontology chief at Lima’s Natural History Museum also affiliated with France’s University of Montpellier. The region 13 million years ago boasted of immense wetlands abounding with lakes, swamps and rivers. The discoveries are helping scientists better understand both the origins of modern Amazonian biodiversity and the ancient assortment of life before the Amazon River formed 10.5 million years ago. “This highly specialised anatomy and lifestyle was previously unknown in any other crocodile,” said paleontologist John Flynn of New York’s American Museum of Natural History. Its bulbous teeth were perfect for crushing shells of mollusks like clams. Its shovel-like snout let it bury its head in muddy wetland bottoms and root around for prey. One of the strangest was Gnatusuchus pebasensis, a 5-foot (1.6-meter) caiman with a shellfish fondness. The scientists unearthed the croc remains in two small fossil bone beds near the northeastern Peruvian city of Iquitos. It featured Earth’s all-time croc bloc: the most crocodilian species dwelling in the same place and time in our planet’s history, scientists said on Tuesday. That is what life was like in the lush Peruvian Amazon basin 13 million years ago. If one croc is reason enough to stay out of the water, how about dipping your toes in a place with seven different croc species including two 26-foot (8-meter) monsters, all living side by side eating just about anything that moves?
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