Researchers have confirmed that a 16-foot, 900-pound ancient crocodile relative swam in the same waters as a 58-foot long snake Titanoboa some 60 million years ago.

The reptile was discovered in the same layer of rock as the Titanoboa fossil in the Cerrejon coal mine of northern Colombia, according to Live Science.

It was named after the "demon of terror" Balrogs character from the Lord of the Rings series. The newly named crocodile belonged to an intrepid family known as the dyrosaurids.

"Much like that giant beast, Anthracosuchus balrogus was awakened from deep within a mine after 60 million years trapped within the rocks of tropical South America," said researcher Jonathan Bloch, associate curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, according to Live Science.

The researchers say that the Anthracosuchus balrogus helps provide a better understanding of how modern crocs adapted to changing environments.

"Everyone thinks that crocodiles are living fossils that have remained virtually unchanged for the last 250 million years. But what we're finding in the fossil record tells a very different story," said lead author Alex Hastings, a postdoctoral researcher at Martin Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg, to Earth Sky.

"It quickly became clear that the four fossil specimens were unlike any dyrosaur species ever found," he added.

Thanks to its blunt snout and powerful bite, it was able to eat turtles with ease, and battled monster snakes when it had to, according to Live Science.

The study provides researchers an insight into the history of crocodiles in the Neotropics as well, according to Live Science.

"This new finding showcases the wide range of ecological variation that tropical crocodiles already had by 60 million years ago - much larger than modern Neotropical crocodile faunas," Carlos Jaramillo, co-author of the study and paleobotanist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, said in a statement.

Anthracosuchus balrogus is the third new species of ancient crocodile discovered in the area.

The species originated in Africa, but 75 million years ago they moved across the Atlantic Ocean to South America.

The family survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, which was likely caused by a meteor strike which hit Earth some 66 million years ago.

"This group offers clues as to how animals survive extinctions and other catastrophes," Hastings said. "As we face climates that are warmer today, it is important to understand how animals responded in the past. This family of crocodyliforms in Cerrejon adapted and did very well despite incredible obstacles, which could speak to the ability of living crocodiles to adapt and overcome."

The crocodile would likely have been threatned by the snake Titanoboa, according to Live Science.

"Titanoboa was the largest predator around and would have tried to eat anything it could get its mouth on," Bloch said.

Research was published in the journal Historical Biology.

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