iflscience.com: In the debate of who would win a battle between a shark and a crocodile, no one would back a snake. But that might change with a series of photos of an epic struggle where a crocodile came off second-best.

The event occurred on Lake Moondarra, near Mount Isa, Australia. The locals are blase enough about the local wildlife to kayak on the lake and breakfast nearby, but even they were stunned when word started to spread of the 5 hour battle. "[The crocodile] was fighting at the start, so it was trying to keep its head out of water and survive," local Tiffany Corlis told the local ABC radio station. "But as the morning sort of progressed, you could tell that both of them were getting a little weaker.

"Finally, the croc sort of gave in and the snake had uncoiled for a little while and had a brief break and then actually started to consume the crocodile."

Corlis told the ABC she would continue to swim in the lake, adding. "I think I'll just send someone else in first."

There has been debate online as to the snake's species. There have been unconfirmed reports of Australian scrub pythons growing to 8m long, but they have different colouring and are not known in the Mt Isa region. Amateur herpetologist Charlie Goodman said photographs indicated the snake was an olive python (Liasis olivaceus), which are known to grow to 4m and live in the area.