(ORDO NEWS) — Paleontologists from Stony Brook University (USA) have discovered the ancient remains of the ancestors of modern crocodiles.
The new carnivore has been named Turnersuchus hingleyae, and fossils of part of its head, spine and limbs have been found in a cave in Morocco.
The find is notable for being the largest set of thalattosuchian parts that lived about 185 million years ago.
Experts believe that representatives of talattosuchus (crocodylomorphs, progenitors of living crocodiles) arose in the Triassic, and at the end of the period they survived a mass extinction.
Turnersuchus belongs to the earliest talattosuchus and is a relative of Teleosauroidea and Metriorhynchoidea.
However, the remains of all species of talattosuchia have not yet been found in the rock layers of the Triassic period, which means the so-called ghost line – the existence of various ancient animals is assumed, but fossil evidence has not yet been found.
The discovery of Turnersuchus shortens this period by several million years.
Talattosuchians are often referred to as “saltwater crocodiles”, although they do not belong to the order Crocodylia, but are their distant relatives.
Ancient predators had short limbs that turned into flippers, shark-like tail fins, and they were viviparous, not laying eggs.
In Turnersuchus, many of the thalattosuchian traits have not yet evolved. It lived in the ocean and hunted smaller marine animals like fish or cephalopods.
In addition, the representative of the species had a long and thin jaw, similar to what gharial crocodiles have now.
His entire body reached a length of about two meters. At the same time, the researchers note that this is only a superficial resemblance to modern reptiles: Turnersuchus had especially large supratemporal foramina, allowing him to own large jaw muscles, which allowed him to make quick bites.
It is also possible that this area performed the function of thermoregulation – it maintained the optimal temperature of the brain.
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