The mother of a sick child flown to Brisbane for specialist treatment says she will never forget two paramedics random act of kindness that made her son s day.
Kristy-Lee Kirby and her son Jordan flew 530 kilometres south from their home in Yeppoon to Queensland s state capital by Royal Flying Doctor Service on December 19 after the four-year-old contracted a serious virus.
On the drive to Queensland Children s Hospital, paramedics chatted to Jordan who spoke enthusiastically about his obsession with dinosaurs.
The ambulance driver made a detour and pulled over outside Queensland Museum where they showed him around exhibitions of towering Triceratops Tyrannosaurus Rex, a small gesture that made a massive impact on Ms Kirby and her little boy.
Prehistoric croc deemed ‘swamp king’ due to its massive size
Updated Jan 08, 2021;
Posted Jan 08, 2021
An ancient crocodile was estimated to be 16 feet in length, a size which gained it the nickname swamp king. (photo by Leigh Bedford via Wikimedia Commons)
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Paludirex vincenti
“Paludirex” meaning “swamp king” in Latin was estimated to be approximately 16 feet long by scientists from the University of Queensland in Brisbane.
“The largest crocodilian today is the Indo-Pacific crocodile,
Crocodylus porosus, which grows to about the same size,” states Jorgo Ristevski, a PhD candidate from the university’s School of Biological Sciences. “But
Paludirex had a broader, more heavy-set skull so it would’ve resembled an Indo-Pacific crocodile on steroids.”
University of Queensland researchers identified the
Paludirex Vincenti from fossils first found in the 1980s.
Researcher Jorgo Ristevski said the species was named after Geoff Vincent, who found the giant fossilised skull on Baruŋgam country, near the town of Chincilla. In Latin,
Paludirex means swamp king , and Vincenti honours the late Mr Vincent, said Mr Ristevski.
The fossilised skull was on display in the Queensland Museum for years before it was donated to the Chinchilla Museum in 2011.
Skull pieces of Paludirex vincenti.
Source: Jorgo Ristevski Its fossilised skull measures around 65 centimetres, so we estimate
Paludirex Vincenti was at least five metres long.