Photo: Todd Marshall |Time.com
I love dinosaurs, a pure and simple fact. So how could I not post about this great list of 7 Bizarre Prehistoric Versions of Modern Day Animals? Above is an image of the real-life monster best known as the "BoarCroc" or the "dinosaur slicer." It's a giant super-crocodile that may have dined on dinosaurs.
The little kid inside of me is going crazy with excitement. As a cub scout (pre-boy scout) as part of a camping trip I got to spend a night in The Field Museum in Chicago, where I am from. We camped out in the dinosaur exhibit because that is only logical place for a boy of 11 to spend his night in the museum. Needless to say I loved it, and that same love is apparent as I read about this "BoarCroc."
Anyone who's watched more than two hours of the Discovery Channel knows that crocodiles are sharp-toothed, armored, writhing instruments of death ... but only if they're in about five feet of water. Ten feet farther on shore and suddenly they're 800 pounds of slow-moving, useless leather with sharp teeth at one end. If nothing else, the fact that crocodiles can't and probably won't chase you on land is the most comforting characteristic of what would otherwise be a relentless murder machine.
Except that about 100 million years ago, that wasn't the case. Kaprosuchus saharicus was evolution's stab at giving one predator every advantage except the ability to fly, making it completely unbeatable. Paleontologists often casually talk about them galloping after dinosaurs on their long legs like that's just a thing crocodiles do regularly.
Be sure to check out the entire list, Link.