210-million-year-old crocodile cousins found during rise of dinosaurs

Fossil That Gathered Dust For 75 Years Revealed As Triassic Crocodile Relative With A Powerful Bite

The newly identified species lived side-by-side with a close relative at the same New Mexico site – and their contrasting jaw structures give a rare glimpse into the ecology of the Mesozoic before the rise of the dinosaurs.

210-million-year-old crocodile cousins found during rise of dinosaurs

Two hundred ten million years ago, two crocodile cousins tragically died side by side, according to Yale paleontologists who discovered this significant moment in time when crocodiles were diversifying before the rise of the dinosaurs. First author Margulis-Ohnuma described the discovery as a “time slice.” The two new fossils uncovered in New Mexico provided Yale researchers with a rare snapshot of the diversification of proto-crocodiles at the …

Meet the ancient “dawn crocodile” that lived 210 million years ago

About 210 million years ago, on a humid riverbank in what is now northern New Mexico, two small crocodile relatives stood side by side among low ferns. They were about the size of modern jackals, but they lived in a very different world during the late Triassic period, long before dinosaurs became dominant. One of […] The post Meet the ancient “dawn crocodile” that lived 210 million years ago appeared first on Knowridge Science Report.