00:00Ancient, croc-like land predators once roamed the Caribbean islands.
00:05Caribbean rock holds serrated teeth from a croc-like land predator.
00:10Scientists identified sebacid fossils from Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.
00:16Sebacids ran on long legs across ancient ground,
00:20unlike modern crocodiles that slide into rivers and swamps.
00:24Serrated sebacid teeth cut meat like steak knives,
00:27showing a land hunter built for chasing prey.
00:31Dominican Republic vertebrae and teeth helped paleontologists confirm
00:35that sebacids once lived on Caribbean islands.
00:38Cuba and Puerto Rico yielded isolated teeth first,
00:41giving researchers the early clues of a hidden predator.
00:45The Caribbean fossils date between 29 and 18 million years ago,
00:49long after sebacids vanished elsewhere.
00:52Garlandia may have linked South America and the greater Antilles,
00:55letting land animals cross into island forests.
00:59Tropical heat and acidic soil usually destroy fossils quickly,
01:03making every tooth and bone fragment valuable.
01:06Modern crocodiles crouched low beside water,
01:09but sebacids stood higher and moved across land with stronger legs.
01:13Caribbean islands once held enough prey to feed a large apex carnivore with slicing teeth.
01:18Researchers now compare jaw shape, tooth edges, and backbones
01:23to rebuild how the predator moved and hunted.
01:26Teeth, vertebrae, island rocks, and old migration routes
01:30now redraw the Caribbean's prehistoric map.
01:33A fossil tooth gleams under lab lights
01:36while a scientist brushes dust from ancient stone.
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