A "sea monster" nicknamed Godzilla warns pterosaurs that this meal already is taken. This computer illustration of the fierce croc appears in the December 2005 issue of National Geographic magazine. Researchers discovered the skull of the animal, known by the scientific name Dakosaurus andiniensis, in Argentina.(File photo: National Geographic)

    BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- In the Jurassic era when dinosaurs ruled the earth, a 13-foot monster crocodile nicknamed "Godzilla" might be the king of sea, described scientists Thursday.

    Totally unique among marine crocodiles, "it is one of the most evolved members of the crocodilian family and also one of the most bizarre," said Diego Pol, a paleontologist at Ohio State University in Columbus, who served on the research team.

    Alerted by a group of farmers who stumbled across several fragments, a team of paleontologists led by Zulma Gasparini of Argentina's La Plata University collected a skull and parts of a vertebrae of the animal in the Argentine province of Neuquen in 1996.

    The unusual fossils presented a puzzle until Dr Pol used sophisticated computer software to map the features of the bones and determine the creature's lineage.

    Until now, every known marine crocodilian had a head of one basic type, with a long snout and many sharp, identical teeth. But "Godzilla" had a short, high snout and teeth that were large and serrated, like a terrestrial reptile's.

    Large serrated teeth of "Godzilla", given the scientific name Dakosaurus andiniensis, indicate a carnivore that would have hunted large prey, Pol said.

    "This was a top predator that probably was 13 feet long and swam around using its jagged teeth to bite and cut its prey, like dinosaurs and other predatory reptiles did," Pol said.

    The researchers don't yet know what events triggered the relatively sudden emergence of Dakosaurus, nor do they know what caused it to go extinct.

    "These groups all went extinct about the same time as the dinosaurs ¡­ and the whales appeared shortly afterward and seemed to have replaced them ecologically," said Clark, who was not involved with the research.

    The finding, published in Thursday's online issue of the journal Science, sheds new light on an animal that millions of years ago dominated Earth's seas.

    Its discovery will be highlighted in the December issue of National Geographic magazine. Enditem

    (Agencies)