--- title: Remains of Largest-Ever Marine Crocodile Found in Desert description: Paleontologists have found the remains of a colossal crocodile believed to be the biggest of its kind. canonical: https://time.com/4178175/marine-crocodile-found/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-12T23:12:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:05:41.061Z article:section: Science og:title: Remains of Largest-Ever Marine Crocodile Found in Desert og:description: It could have grown to more than 30-feet long og:url: https://time.com/4178175/marine-crocodile-found/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5fe75bde33b7a5b/698878d7428a9e4a8ccd0ec4/ancient-croc1.jpg?branch=production&width=1049&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1049 og:image:height: 590 og:image:alt: ancient-croc og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Remains of Largest-Ever Marine Crocodile Found in Desert twitter:description: It could have grown to more than 30-feet long twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5fe75bde33b7a5b/698878d7428a9e4a8ccd0ec4/ancient-croc1.jpg?branch=production&width=1049&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Remains of Largest-Ever Marine Crocodile Found in Desert > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 12, 2016 11:12 PM UTC  The new Machimosaurus rex species was discovered in the Tunisian desert. The new Machimosaurus rex species was discovered in the Tunisian desert. Illustration by Davide Bonadonna, Courtesy National Geographic  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 12, 2016 11:12 PM UTC Paleontologists have found the [remains of a colossal crocodile](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/160111-ancient-crocodile-marine-largest-paleontology/) believed to be the biggest of its kind. The newly discovered [“Machimosaurus rex” species](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667115301178) could have grown to more than 30-feet long and weighed about 6,000 pounds, _National Geographic_ reports. The fossils, including a skull, belonging to the marine crocodile were found in the Tunisian desert in a 120-million-year-old rock, according to the magazine. “This is a neat new discovery from a part of the world that hasn’t been well-explored for fossils,” [University of Edinburgh paleontologist Stephen Brusatte](http://www.ed.ac.uk/geosciences/people?indv=3505), who was not involved with the new study, told _National Geographic_. “It would likely have been something of an ambush predator, hanging around in shallow water hunting turtles and fishes and maybe waiting for some land animals to come a little too close to the shore.” \[[_National Geographic_](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/160111-ancient-crocodile-marine-largest-paleontology/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4178175/marine-crocodile-found/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4178175/marine-crocodile-found/"},"headline":"Remains of Largest-Ever Marine Crocodile Found in Desert","datePublished":"2016-01-12T23:12:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:05:41.061Z","description":"It could have grown to more than 30-feet long","url":"https://time.com/4178175/marine-crocodile-found/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5fe75bde33b7a5b/698878d7428a9e4a8ccd0ec4/ancient-croc1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5fe75bde33b7a5b/698878d7428a9e4a8ccd0ec4/ancient-croc1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ancient-croc","caption":"The new Machimosaurus rex species was discovered in the Tunisian desert.","creditText":"Illustration by Davide Bonadonna, Courtesy National Geographic","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4178175/marine-crocodile-found/","name":"Remains of Largest-Ever Marine Crocodile Found in Desert"}}]}] ```