An artist's impression of a Carcharodontosaurus eyeing a group of crocodile-like hunters called Elosuchusis in the Kem Kem beds (Credit: Davide Bonadonna/ University of Portsmouth)

The Sahara Desert, which encompasses over 3.6 million square miles of Northern Africa, is one of the harshest and most inhospitable places on the planet today. However, new research conducted by a team of international paleontologists has found that millions of years ago, the area was a lush green oasis filled with a frightening line-up of ferocious carnivores, including flying reptiles, crocodile-like hunters, and aquatic dinosaurs.