4. Koolasuchus cleelandi

The car-sized amphibian Koolasuchus lived alongside dinosaurs in Victoria during the Cretaceous Period. In a head the size of a dustbin lid were dozens of ridged fangs for piercing prey, and two-inch tusks growing from the roof of its mouth.

Resembling something between a huge newt and a crocodile, Koolasuchus was adapted to life in the rushing rivers that once separated Australia and Antarctica. Its fossils are only found at a few beaches and coves in south Gippsland.

Koolasuchus was an unexpected discovery, as it is the long-last member of its lineage, known as the temnospondyls. It lived in Victoria as much as 50 million years after all other temnospondyls went extinct worldwide.

About the animal

Scientific name	Koolasuchus cleelandi
How do you say its name?	Cool-a-SOO-cuss clee-LAN-die
How big?	About four metres long
When did it live?	Around 125 million years ago
What did it eat?	Small dinosaurs, turtles, and fish

Fossil facts

Significant Victorian location	San Remo, South Gippsland Boonwurrung Country
Traditional Owners	Bunurong people
Who found it?	Michael Cleeland
Who named it?	Vertebrate palaeontologist Professor Anne Warren
What is special about it?	It is a 'relic' species that lived 50 million years after its relatives went extinct.
Significance of the fossil	Koolasuchus is unique to Victoria.
Full name and meaning	Named for Michael Cleeland and Lesley Kool, who found the first Koolasuchus fossil and prepared it from surrounding rock.