Advanced synchrotron and nuclear imaging have confirmed that a 93-million-year-old crocodile devoured a young dinosaur, according to the remains found in the contents of the fossilized stomach.
The investigation of the fossils found in 2010 in Queensland, Australia was carried out by a team led by Dr. Matt White of the Australian Museum of the Age of Dinosaurs and the University of New England. The results are published in Gondwana Research.
broken crocodile
The crocodile Confractosuchus sauroktonos, which translates to “dinosaur-killing broken crocodile,” was between 2 and 2.5 meters long. “Broken” refers to the fact that the crocodile was found on a huge shattered rock.
The first neutron imaging scans of a rock fragment from the boulder detected bones from the small juvenile dinosaur the size of a chicken in the intestinean ornithopod that has not yet been formally identified to species.
Lead Instrument Scientist Dr. Joseph Bevitt explained that the dinosaur bones were completely embedded within dense ironstone rock and were discovered by chance when the sample was exposed to the penetrating power of neutrons at ANSTO.
Dingo, Australia’s only neutron imaging instrument, can be used to produce 2D and 3D images of a solid object and reveal hidden features within it.
A bone that looked like a chicken
“On the initial scan in 2015, I saw a buried bone that looked like a chicken bone with a hook and immediately thought it was a dinosaur,” Bevitt explained in a statement. “Human eyes had never seen it before, as it was, and still is, totally encased in rock.”
The finding led to more high-resolution scans using Dingo and the Synchrotron X-ray Imaging and Medical Beamline over several years. “The 3D digital scans from Imaging and Medical Beamline guided the physical preparation of the crocodile, which was impossible without knowing precisely where the bones were,” Bevitt said.
Rather, fragile samples had to be carefully reduced to a size that synchrotron X-rays could penetrate to obtain a high-quality scan. “The results were outstanding in providing a complete picture of the crocodile and its last meal, a partially digested juvenile dinosaur.”
This is believed to be the first time a synchrotron beamline has been used in this way. IMBL’s instrument scientist, Dr. Anton Maximenko, helped the research team push power limits and fine-tune the setup to successfully scan large samples.
Bevitt explained that the team used the full intensity of the synchrotron X-ray beam to achieve the results in dense rock.
3D digital puzzle
Together, Drs. Bevitt and White did all of the data processing and developed new software mechanisms to process and merge all of the data sets from this fragmented crocodile. In this way, the crocodile was reconstructed as a 3D digital puzzle.
To confirm that the dinosaur was indeed in the crocodile’s gut, the team looked at stuffed worm tunnels, plant roots, and geological features that extended between rock fragments. “The chemistry of the rock provided the evidence,” Bevitt said.
Researchers believe the crocodile likely got caught up in a mega-flood event, was buried, and died suddenly.
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“The fossilized remains were found in a large rock. Concretions often form when organic matter, or say a crocodile, sinks to the bottom of a river. Because the environment is rich in minerals, within days , the slime around the body can solidify and harden due to the presence of bacteria,” Bevitt explained.
The specimens are now on display at the Australian Museum of the Age of Dinosaurs.