‘Godzilla’ revealed as monster croc

SCIENTISTS have nicknamed it “Godzilla” but the terrifying jaws filled with interlocking four-inch teeth are more reminiscent of the monster in the film Alien.

The nightmare creature had the head of a dinosaur, body of a crocodile and fins of a fish, and experts believe it ruled the ocean 135 million years ago.

Fossil remains of the predator, Dakosaurus andiniensis, were uncovered in Patagonia, Argentina, in a region that was once a deep tropical bay.

Measuring 13ft from nose to tail, “Godzilla” had 30-inch jaws armed with interlocking serrated teeth up to four inches long.

It was a marine crocodile - but one unlike any of its relatives.

Dr Diego Pol, from Ohio State University, one of a team of experts who described the creature in the journal Science, said: “This species was very unusual, because other marine crocodiles that were around at the same time had very delicate features - long, skinny snouts and needle-like teeth for catching small fish and molluscs.

“But this croc was just the opposite. It had a short snout, and large teeth with serrated edges. It was definitely a predator of large sea creatures.”

No other crocodile living towards the end of the Jurassic period was larger than Dakosaurus andiniensis, or as robust.

Unlike modern crocodiles, “Godzilla” lived entirely in the water, and had fins instead of legs.

Paleontologists from the National University of La Plata in Argentina discovered the fossil bones of three specimens in 1996.

The fossils presented a puzzle, but Dr Pol used sophisticated computer software to map the features of the bones and determine the creature’s lineage.