Traces of giant crocodile discovered at B.C. road cut
Long before grizzly bears and mountain lions roamed the wilds of northeastern British Columbia, carnivores that were best avoided in the region included the colossal relatives of modern crocodiles.
Researchers inferred that much after discovering claw marks made about 97 million years ago by the fearsome reptiles, who raked the muddy bottom of a shallow waterway with their claws. The indentations later filled with silt, which became sandstone over the eons, leaving distinctive patterns that were discovered in exposed rock near a highway that runs along the Sukunka River valley north of Tumbler Ridge, B.C.
“The mud consistency was just right” for preserving crocodilian traces, said Guy Plint, a geologist at the University of Western Ontario. “Even the impressions of the scales on their feet can be recognized.”
