Monster croc stalks Queensland fishermen

A 6-metre-long "man-eater sized" crocodile has stalked two Queensland fishermen while they sat in a small boat in the Hinchenbrook Channel north of Ingham.

Whitsunday man Andy Thomsen and a friend were fly fishing from their dinghy when the monster croc appeared only 2m away and "scared the s--- out of" them.

The keen angler captured the whole ordeal with a camera strapped to his head to record for his YouTube channel.

"This is a man-eater sized croc and if we had not been watching who knows what it may have done," Mr Thomsen told the Townsville Bulletin.

Over a 50 minute period the carnivorous reptile had followed them for more than 50m and then another 2km before popping up in the water beside them.

"We were sliding down the food chain," Mr Thomsen wrote in the video.

"I've never got that close to one before," he said about the encounter on the weekend.

"If it had have stayed up, I don't know what we would have done."

Despite his terrifyingly close encounter, Mr Thomsen said he would not be giving fishing away any time soon.

Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/2014/12/04/11/20/queensland-fishermen-stalked-by-6m-man-eating-croc#RwhCVsBKiV4MlgDf.99

Monster croc skull unearthed

Scientists have found what they believe to be the jawbone of an ancient "monster" crocodile at a remote station in northwest Queensland.

They estimate the extinct saltie could have been the length of a Brisbane City Council bus and may have once roamed as far south as the state's capital.

University of Queensland palaeontologist Gilbert Price said the fossil was found by masters student Bok Khoo, from the University of NSW, during a dig last month.

"It would have been a monster, bigger than anything we have likely seen before," Dr Price said. "Possibly the biggest in Australia. It did not have any teeth attached but the tooth sockets alone were 35mm-40mm wide so you can imagine the teeth it had."

The front lower jaw bone was found near a disused road crossing along the Leichhardt River, near Floraville station, on July 10. It was found in an ancient riverbed deposit formed during the Pliocene and Pleistocene periods, one to two million years ago. Dr Price, who was on the dig, said the expedition involved keeping "one eye on the fossils and one on the riverbank" at all times.
"The area is full of saltwater and freshwater crocs, sharks, rays," he said.

Scientists believe the ancient crocodile may belong to the genus Pallimnarchus, an extinct mekosuchine crocodylian from the Pliocene and Pleistocene period. They will conduct radiometric dating but believe it belongs to the species Pallimnarchus pollens - the largest of the genus.

Giant croc caught in the Phillipines

A crocodile measuring a whopping 21 feet and weighing 2,370 pounds has been captured alive in the Philippines.

The male reptile was caught after a 21-day hunt in the southern province of Agusan del Sur, Nine MSN reports. Wildlife officers had set traps after residents reported a series of attacks in the area. 

A young girl disappeared in the area in 2010, although it is not known if the trapped crocodile was responsible. The saltwater crocodile may also have eaten a farmer who went missing in July, along with several water buffaloes in the southern town of Bunawan, crocodile hunter Rollie Sumiller reportedly said.

Villagers remain wary of several crocodiles that roam the outskirts of the farming town of about 37,000 people.

Cassius the monster croc of them all

It's official - Cairns, Queensland has the biggest captive crocodile in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records.

Cassius, the 5.5m saltwater crocodile, has called Marineland Melanesia his home for 24 years. The monstrous crocodilian, believed to be more than 100 years old (and a man-eater to boot!), will appear in the 2012 edition of the organisation’s book, which will be launched next month.

Big Brutus is no crock - he's the real deal

 

This scaly 5.5 meter-long saltwater crocodile regularly leaps out of the water alongside tourists floating in a tin boat, aiming for a chunk of buffalo meat hanging from a stick.

But when photos of airborne Brutus appeared in Australian newspapers recently, they immediately sparked doubt that such a massive crocodile existed.

"That crocodile is 100 per cent real. We've had forensics police look at the picture," said Maxine Bowman, a staff member of Adelaide River Cruises, who take daily tours on the river to feed Brutus and other crocodiles in the area.

Missing a front leg, rumored to be the result of a shark attack, Brutus leaps into the air for food when he's in the area.

"Seriously, what people get wrong is they think they're trained to do that, they're not," Bowman told Reuters.

"In an normal environment if it's hungry (a crocodile) will naturally jump out of the water. They're absolutely beautiful creatures, seriously."

Throughout the Northern Territory, where the famed movie "Crocodile Dundee" was filmed, there are warning signs to protect tourists from the crocodiles, which are common, and fatalities do occur from time to time.

"I think the Northern Territory is the only place in Australia where you're licensed to feed crocodiles and we're one of the operators licensed," Bowman said.

"We are very environmentally friendly, we don't have cappuccino machines on our boats. It's all about the animals in the region."

 

Monster crocodilian caught in NT

Northern Territory wildlife rangers have caught their biggest crocodile for the year.

Measuring more than 4.5 metres, the crocodile had been lurking around the Corroboree Billabong boat ramp, about 140km south-east of Darwin, for a few weeks.

Part of the Mary River wetlands, the billabong has the largest concentration of saltwater crocodiles in the world.

Rangers were acting on reports of a big crocodile that had been menacing fishermen.

An angler reported the crocodile lunging at the side of his boat two weekends ago, and there had been up to a dozen other reports of the crocodile causing problems.

The monster crocodile was harpooned and taken to a reptile farm.

Ranger Joey Buckerfield says he believes the crocodile display of aggression is probably territorial in nature.

"I think because it is such a big size and it seems to be the only croc in that area, it might just feel threatened by boats," he said.

Quinkana - the land crocodile

Quinkana is an extinct genus of mekosuchine crocodile that lived in Australia from 24 million years ago to 40,000 years ago.

The terrestrial crocodile had relatively long, agile legs, very different from the splayed limbs of modern crocodiles, and its teeth were curved and sharp, like those of a tyrannosaur dinosaur.

By the Pleistocene Quinkana had become one of the top terrestrial predators of Australia, possessing long legs and ziphodont teeth (lateromedially compressed, recurved and serrated).

Unlike today's Australian crocodiles, this large 220kg land-dwelling reptile's long legs made it a fast hunter. It tired out its prey of mammals, birds and other reptiles in long chases.

Its sharp teeth allowed it to tear apart its prey, unlike its water-dwelling surviving cousins whose teeth are better suited to holding and drowning their prey.

Quinkana belonged to a group of crocodiles (mekosuchines) that are now all extinct. Quinkana comes from the 'Quinkans', a legendary folk from Aboriginal myths.

Monster croc caught in NT

Rangers pulled a huge saltwater crocodile from a trap near Katherine, in the Northern Territory this week. The 4.6-metre monster reptile is the largest of the 116 crocodiles caught by wildlife officers in the Northern Territory so far this year, and is estimated to weigh in at around 600-700kg.

Monster croc Ian's master work

 

Apparently Ian can't be stuffed anymore. That was going to be our cheesy headline, but we've been ripping out a few too many taxidermy puns of late, so we'll play this one straight.

The NT News, one of Australia's most colourful newspapers, however couldn't resist a naughty headline for this interesting story about the impending retirement of taxidermist Ian Archibald, the man behind one of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory's most famous exhibits - 'Sweetheart', the monster croc: 'Sweetheart, Ian can't be stuffed'.

Apparently Ian hadn't been with the museum long in the early 1970s when he was charged with the job of preparing and mounting the 5.1m saltwater crocodile, which was caught in the Finniss River.

The outboard motor-crunching croc, a habit which swiftly brought about his demise, is pictured above getting the immortality treatment from Ian (pictured at the croc's head) and his colleagues. 

Good luck Ian. And yes, we're just using Ian's retirement as an excuse to show you a cool photo. I'm sure he would understand.

New (extinct) croc species discovered

Researchers discovered a new species of crocodile that lived about 100 million year ago in Thailand’s northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, or Korat.

Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University and Mahasarakham University announced at a press conference on Thursday the discovery of the new species of crocodile dubbed 'Khoratosuchus jintasakuli' after the nickname of the province Korat where the fossil was found. The last name comes from the surname of the director of the Northeastern Research Institute of Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources, Pratueng Jintasakul.

The fossil, kept at the Northeastern Research Institute of Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources in Nakhon Ratchasima, is a 191-millimetre-long skull dug up from an excavation site in Baan Saphan Hin near Nakhon Ratchasima’s provincial seat.

According to a study, the fossil is from the Cretaceous period Khok Kruat Formation of Thailand’s Northeast. The fourth ancient species of crocodile found in Thailand, it is estimated to be around 100 million years old.

Komsorn Lauprasert, a scientist at Mahasarakham University, said the size of the skull indicated that it was likely about a two to three year old specimen and its body was about two metres long. The characteristics of its teeth showed that it probably fed on fish.

Normanton's monster croc '8m long'

COULD this be Normanton's own "Loch Ness Monster", an elusive 8m giant that has residents in the Gulf thinking twice before taking out the tinnie?

Rumours of a massive croc lurking near the township of Normanton have revived memories of the famed 8.6m monster shot in the Norman River in 1957, and claimed as a world record.

Local pastor Elton Thompson sparked a frenzy last week when he produced photographs of a croc slide about 1km from town, which indicate the presence of a huge animal with a girth of up to 2m.

Now fisherman Clint Spry has revealed photos he took of a huge croc in the Norman River with a tail "as long as my boat".

"It had locked jaws with an albino crocodile and was just throwing it around like a rag doll," Mr Spry told The Sunday Mail.

"The tail on it alone was as long as my whole boat . . . 3.8 metres."

Pastor Thompson started a sensation when he put his photos of huge slide marks and claw prints on his Facebook page and relayed a story of a crocodile recently spotted at the same location that was "at least as big, if not bigger" than the legendary 8.6m Savannah King, that has a life-size replica in Normanton.

As national media outlets picked up the story, locals debated whether the croc really was that big or, well, just a crock.

One publican insists: "It's a wives' tale. There are no crocs that big near Normanton."

Others are adamant an oversize croc has been in the area for some time, growing bigger every year since Queensland banned commercial hunting in the '70s.

Long-time local Terry Cummings didn't hesitate when asked if he thought an 8m croc could be lurking in the area.

"I was here in the '50s and saw them that big," he said.

Herbie Harold, 52, who found the original slide marks and alerted his pastor, said he had seen a massive croc in the same spot once before.

The Sunday Mail enlisted Mr Harold's expertise last week in a bid to find the monster (one of Elton's photos is shown below).

Super Crocodilians: monster crocs in NT

Right now a fascinating exhibition is on at the Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery in Darwin.

Two hundred years ago, one of the world’s greatest scientists was born, Charles Darwin. Famous for his theory of evolution, Charles Darwin reshaped the world’s perception on the origin of living organisms.

Supercrocodilians: Darwin’s ultimate survival story demonstrates Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution through crocodilians. Supercrocodilians features an array of crocodilian specimens from ancient fossils to modern examples.


Come face-to-face with one of the largest crocodilians known to have ever existed, which may have measured over 12 metres in length. See Australian fossil species from the last 100 million years, which show a diversity of aquatic forms as well as species apparently better adapted for a life on land.

Modern crocodilians, many from overseas, are included in the exhibition, which ends January 2011. Catch it while you can!

Monster cow-eating croc shot

A monster 6.5m croc was killed by locals in a remote Territory Aborigine community because it was killing their cattle.
Jeida Francis, 23, said the croc was caught in Manangoora, an outstation 56km east of Borroloola in the mid '90s.
However, another earlier posting on the Internet seems to indicate the croc was in fact shot in the Albert River near Burketown, which is in Queensland. Which is only 500km away and just over the border.

Rom and Nik Whittaker have written a very interesting piece on the world's biggest crocodiles on record, which can be read here.

It reads in part: "The oft quoted 28 footer killed back in July 1957 by the Pawlowskis in the Norman River Estuary of the Gulf of Carpentaria remains just an unverified anecdote, no matter how many publications the story appears in.
"Adam Britton and I (RW) measured two of the largest saltie skulls in Australia, one called ‘Charley’ at the Darwin Croc Farm (a ‘mere’ 64.4 cm) and one shot by Terry Holtz on display at the Corrorboree Tavern near Darwin.

"This one measures 68.8 cm and is possibly the largest skull in Australia. Driving down the road we stopped in for yet another cold one at Bark Hut Inn, Annaburroo and there we found and measured just the mandible of a saltie 89.9 cm – bigger than the Corroboree mandible. Adam has heard of another croc skull in NT with a mandible of 96 cm (close to the size of the Paris Museum monster croc). The search continues for the largest Aussie skull.
"News of an estimated 22 footer has also come from the Bullo River. We did see some 16 footers and one massive slide, but the Bullo giant is still out there."
Read more about the latest NT monster croc here: http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/08/05/169811_ntnews.html