Ancient Crocodile Species Discovered

It roamed the planet 100 million years ago
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 25, 2010 2:30 PM CST
Ancient Crocodile Species Discovered
The skull of an ancient crocodile which was dug in Nakhon Ratchasima, northeastern Thailand in 2006, is shown from the top.   (AP Photo/Northeastern Research Institute of Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources)

A fossil that had been sitting in a museum has been identified by scientists as that of a previously unknown species of crocodile—which is believed to have lived 100 million years ago, the AP reports. Analysis of the six-inch-long skull fossil, which a scientist stumbled upon in 2006, led scientists to determine that the croc belonged to a distinct species, now called Khoratosuchus jintasakuli.

The reptile had longer legs than its present-day descendants, researchers have determined. "They were living on land and could run very fast," said one. Despite that, the crocodile's teeth indicate that it fed mainly on fish.
(More crocodile stories.)

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