--- description: A giant crocodile with the serrated teeth of a T-Rex was a top predator during the Jurassic period title: Scientists Discovered a Giant Crocodile With T-Rex Teeth image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88483524afc1d5e4/6988d46cfb4eac5931892c1d/giant-croc-milan-museum.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [fossils](/tag/fossils/) ## fossils Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Scientists Discovered a Giant Crocodile With T-Rex Teeth That's Straight Out of Your Nightmares by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jul 5, 2017 2:39 PM CUT  An artist’s rendering shows Razana and its giant teeth eating the carcass of a plant-eating dinosaur in the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar. An artist’s rendering shows Razana and its giant teeth eating the carcass of a plant-eating dinosaur in the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar.Fabio Manucci—Natural History Museum in Milan by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jul 5, 2017 2:39 PM CUT A giant [crocodile](http://time.com/4711267/crocodile-attack-news/ "undefined") with teeth like a T-Rex was a top predator during the Jurassic period, researchers found in a recent study. Called _Razanandrongobe sakalavae_ and nicknamed “Razana,” the animal roamed [Madagascar](http://time.com/4548729/sever-hunger-madagascar-drought-crop-failures/ "undefined") about 170 million years ago, according to the study published in [PeerJ](https://peerj.com/articles/3481/#intro "undefined"). Researchers first described the crocodile ancestor based on isolated teeth and a fragmented bone documented in a 2006 study. At the time, scientists could not determine whether Razana was a dinosaur or an unknown crocodile ancestor. New cranial fossils enabled a team of Italian paleontologists to identify Razana as a crocodile relative, making her the oldest representative of a group of animals similar to crocodiles called Notosuchians. Unlike modern crocodiles, Razana had a large jaw and serrated teeth similar to that of a T-Rex, suggesting that the animal was a top hunter and scavenger in the Middle Jurassic. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4845021/giant-crocodile-t-rex-teeth-jurassic-period/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4845021/giant-crocodile-t-rex-teeth-jurassic-period/"},"headline":"Scientists Discovered a Giant Crocodile With T-Rex Teeth That's Straight Out of Your Nightmares","datePublished":"2017-07-05T14:39:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:26:05.548Z","description":"The crocodile ancestor lived in Madagascar","url":"https://time.com/4845021/giant-crocodile-t-rex-teeth-jurassic-period/","keywords":["fossils","dinosaurs","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88483524afc1d5e4/6988d46cfb4eac5931892c1d/giant-croc-milan-museum.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88483524afc1d5e4/6988d46cfb4eac5931892c1d/giant-croc-milan-museum.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"giant-croc-milan-museum","caption":"An artist’s rendering shows Razana and its giant teeth eating the carcass of a plant-eating dinosaur in the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar.","creditText":"Fabio Manucci—Natural History Museum in Milan","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/fossils/","name":"fossils"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4845021/giant-crocodile-t-rex-teeth-jurassic-period/","name":"Scientists Discovered a Giant Crocodile With T-Rex Teeth That's Straight Out of Your Nightmares"}}]}] ```