Extinct Baru crocodile species named years after Alcoota fossil bed discovery

A species of prehistoric crocodile that once roamed the now arid landscape of central Australia has been named. Key points: Baru iylwenpeny lived in central Australia eight million years ago Fossils from the previously unnamed species have been found at the Alcoota fossil bed Adam Yates says there are a number of anatomical differences between it and other Baru species An article on a "new species of cleaver-headed crocodile" was published today in the online journal Papers in Paleontology. "The main difference between the Alcoota Baru and the other older Barus is that it has bigger back teeth," Dr Yates said. 'Just disappears' Dr Yates said Baru iylwempeny was significant because it was the last of the genus Baru across Australia and therefore not ancestral to modern-day crocodiles which had the genus classification of Crocodylus. "Then conditions returned somewhat, so things got wetter again, the inland rivers flow started to flow again and a cast of new crocodiles moved in to take the place of where Baru once used to swim," Dr Yates said.