Modern crocodile's 'grandfather,' 150 million years old, discovered in Chile fossil Published On Modern crocodile's 'grandfather,' 150 million years old, discovered in Chile fossil BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - A 150-million-year-old fossilized skeleton discovered in the mountains of southern Chile was determined to be the ancestor of the modern crocodile, the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences announced on Friday. The species, named Burkesuchus mallingrandensis, was found in 2014 in an Andean fossil deposit near the Patagonian town of Mallin Grande by Argentine and Chilean researchers. Since then it has been analyzed at the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences (MACN) in Buenos Aires.