Paleontologists have unearthed the fossilized remains of a new species of the mekosuchine crocodilian genus Baru in the Alcoota Scientific Reserve, about 110 km northwest of Alice Springs in the Australia’s Northern Territory.
Life reconstruction of Baru iylwenpeny. Image credit: Adam Yates / Sci.News.
The newly-described crocodilian species lived during the Miocene epoch, approximately 8 million years ago.
The ancient reptile belongs to Baru, a genus that now includes three large crocodilian species from the Oligo-Miocene of Australia.
Named Baru iylwenpeny, the new species is the geologically youngest known member of the genus.
“The unveiling of Baru iylwenpeny marks a milestone in our understanding of Australia’s prehistoric fauna,” said Dr. Adam Yates, senior curator for earth sciences at the Megafauna Central, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.
“The first bones of Baru iylwenpeny surfaced during the inaugural scientific excavations at Alcoota in the early 1960s by Michael Woodburne, providing us with tantalising glimpses of its existence. However, it wasn’t until our recent dedicated efforts that we truly grasped its distinctiveness.”
“The moment we found the complete skull was truly exhilarating. It was like uncovering a missing puzzle piece that allowed us to finally understand the entirety of Baru iylwenpeny’s morphology and significance.”
“Australia was home to a remarkably diverse group of crocodilians called mekosuchines, of which the newly described species Baru iylwenpeny is a part of,” added University of Queensland’s Dr. Jorgo Ristevski.
“Although all mekosuchines are now extinct, their fossil remains are a testament to their abundance and importance in Australian ecosystems for tens of millions of years.”
“Some mekosuchines, such as Baru iylwenpeny, were the top predators in their respective environments.”
Dr. Adam Yates holding the skull of Baru iylwenpeny. Image credit: Megafauna Central, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.
Baru iylwenpeny was a formidable creature, boasting a skull length of up to 50 cm and an estimated body length of 4 m, roughly equivalent to a large saltwater crocodile.
What sets it apart are its muscular build and thicker bones compared to a crocodile of similar length, making it a weightier specimen.
Characterized by deep jaws and sizeable teeth, it likely specialized in hunting megafauna.
“Species of Baru probably represent some of the most fearsome predators to have inhabited Australia over the last 10 million years,” said University of Queensland’s Dr. Steve Salisbury.
“Baru iylwenpeny is the geologically youngest of the three species that are known, the others being Baru darrowi and Baru wickeni.”
“It’s also the best-represented, with multiple skulls from juveniles through to fully mature adults having been recovered. We pretty much know exactly what it looked like.”
“Imagine a 4-5-m-long Indo-Pacific crocodile, but with a shorter, deeper snout and very large, backward pointing teeth, and a generally heavier, gnarly-looking head. That’s Baru! It’s no wonder they’ve become known as ‘cleaver-headed’ crocodiles.”
“It’s terrifying to think that animals such as Baru iylwenpeny once inhabited the water courses of Central Australia.”
“Their disappearance around 8 million years ago heralds the start of a period of global cooling, coinciding with an intense pulse of drying of the Australian interior.”
“Ultimately, this drying led to the disappearance of many of the waterways that these crocodiles once inhabited.”
“A new crocodilian fauna would emerge millions of years later in what is now the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre basin.”
“A similar turnover of crocodilian diversity is seen in Africa and South America, possibly in response to similar events there.”
The discovery of Baru iylwenpeny is described in a paper in the journal Papers in Palaeontology.
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Adam M. Yates et al. 2023. The last Baru (Crocodylia, Mekosuchinae): a new species of ‘cleaver-headed crocodile’ from central Australia and the turnover of crocodylians during the Late Miocene in Australia. Papers in Palaeontology 9 (5): e1523; doi: 10.1002/spp2.1523
