Scientists have unearthed Australia's oldest known crocodile eggshells which may have belonged to drop crocs - creatures that climbed trees to hunt prey below.
The discovery of the 55-million-year-old eggshells was made in a sheep farmer's backyard in Queensland with the findings published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
The eggshells belonged to a long-extinct group of crocodiles known as mekosuchines, who lived in inland waters when Australia was part of Antarctica and South America.
Co-author Prof Michael Archer said drop crocs were a bizarre idea but some were perhaps hunting like leopards - dropping out of trees on any unsuspecting thing they fancied for dinner.
Prof Archer, a palaeontologist at the University of New South Wales, said mekosuchine crocodiles - which could grow to about five meters - were plentiful 55 million years ago, long before their modern saltwater and freshwater cousins arrived in Australia about 3.8 million years ago.
The drop croc eggshells were discovered several decades ago but only recently analyzed with the help of scientists in Spain.
Since the early 1980s, a group of scientists has excavated a clay pit in Murgon, about 270km (168 miles) northwest of Brisbane. The site has become known for its prehistoric treasures, yielding fossils of various organisms from an ancient forest ecosystem.
With the discovery of the drop croc eggs, researchers emphasize the bizarre adaptations of these creatures and their role in ancient ecosystems. As more digging continues, they anticipate finding even more surprising fossils from Australia's rich paleontological history.
