Scientists say they have discovered the intact fossilized skull of a marine crocodile with a dinosaur-like head and a fish-like tail that likely terrorized the Pacific Ocean 135 million years ago.
The head of the expedition that found the specimen has dubbed it "Godzilla."
The fossil was discovered in 1996 in the Patagonia region of Argentina and researchers spent years uncovering the skull and analyzing their find. They published their work Thursday in the journal Science.
Zulma Gasparini, paleozoology professor at Argentina's Universidad Nacional de La Plata, said the fierce-looking animal probably terrorized creatures in the Pacific Ocean in the late Jurassic era, just as the film monster Godzilla frightened the people of Tokyo in the movies.
"We are calling him the 'chico malo' -- 'bad boy'" of the ocean, she said.
For more:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/11/10/godzilla.find/index.html
