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Fossils reveal that sebecids, long-extinct land predators, survived far longer in the Caribbean than previously thought, rewriting ancient ecological history. Imagine a crocodile built like a greyhound — that’s a sebecid.

A long time ago, strange predators roamed the Caribbean — not just birds and snakes, but land-dwelling crocodiles that sprinted after prey like hungry wolves. These ancient reptiles weren’t what most people picture when they hear the word "crocodile.

These sebecids were the last survivors of a group of ancient crocodile relatives called Notosuchia. Unlike today’s crocodiles, most notosuchians lived entirely on land and hunted like dinosaurs—running on long legs and tearing into prey with sharp, serrated teeth.

New discoveries in the Dominican Republic suggest sebecids roamed the Caribbean as recently as 4.5 million years ago, long after they vanished from South America

The research suggests that dirt ants once inhabited the Caribbean islands before vanishing during the Miocene epoch.

Scientists have identified two new species of crocodiles in the Caribbean off the Yucatán Peninsula – and both are already threatened by extinction.