--- description: Paleontologists have found the remains of a colossal crocodile believed to be the biggest of its kind. title: Remains of Largest-Ever Marine Crocodile Found in Desert image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5fe75bde33b7a5b/698878d7428a9e4a8ccd0ec4/ancient-croc1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Remains of Largest-Ever Marine Crocodile Found in Desert  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 12, 2016 11:12 PM CUT  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](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 12, 2016 11:12 PM CUT Paleontologists have found the [remains of a colossal crocodile](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/160111-ancient-crocodile-marine-largest-paleontology/ "undefined") believed to be the biggest of its kind. The newly discovered [“Machimosaurus rex” species](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667115301178 "undefined") 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 "undefined"), 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.” \[[_National Geographic_](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/160111-ancient-crocodile-marine-largest-paleontology/ "undefined")\] ```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"}}]}] ```