Bigger than its cousin the Nile crocodile (pictured here), the horned crocodile loomed large in prehistoric times. Researchers recently unearthed its fossil in Kenya, and concluded that the behemoth exceeded 27 feet in length. Undoubtedly, it preyed on our ancestors of two to four million years ago.

Scientists have named the horned croc Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni, in honor of the late WCS conservationist Dr. John Thorbjarnarson. In their study published in the latest Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Christopher Brochu of the University of Iowa and Glenn Storrs of the Cincinatti Museum Center stated that Dr. Thorbjarnarson’s untimely death in February 2010 “left a legacy of unmatched achievement in the biology and conservation of crocodylians worldwide.”

To learn more about the fossil, read this article from MSNBC >>