‘Hypercarnivore’ crocodile relative that ripped aside dinosaurs found

[ad_1] Scientists have found a “hypercarnivore” crocodile-relative species in Argentina that terrorised dinosaurs within the area with its highly effective jaw and large tooth.

The brand new species has been named Kostensuchus atrox, after the Patagonian wind identified within the Tehuelche native language because the Kosten, and the Egyptian crocodile-headed god often called Souchos, with atrox that means “fierce” or “harsh”.

It was found based mostly on a well-preserved fossil in Argentina’s Chorrillo Formation, which is wealthy in deposits from round 70 million years in the past on the very finish of the Cretaceous interval.

“Right here, we develop the variety of fossil vertebrates from the Chorrillo Formation with the outline of the peirosaurid crocodyliform Kostensuchus atrox,” scientists wrote in a brand new examine revealed within the journal PLoS One.

This was a time when the southern Patagonia area was a heat, seasonally humid panorama of freshwater floodplains, house to creatures like dinosaurs, turtles, frogs, and numerous mammals, in line with the brand new examine.

Artist reconstruction of Kostensuchus atrox (Gabriel Diaz Yanten)

The crocodile relative’s fossil was discovered largely intact, together with a cranium and jaws with seen particulars, in addition to a number of bones from the physique.

Fossil bones point out the apex predator seemingly reached round 3.5 meters (11.5 ft) lengthy based mostly on comparability of recovered bones with the whole skeletons of caimans and alligators.

The species seemingly reached weights of round 250 kg (551 kilos), with a large, highly effective jaw and large tooth able to devouring even medium-sized dinosaurs, researchers say.

Okay. atrox, scientists say, is the second-largest predator identified from this fossil web site, and was seemingly one of many prime predators within the area.

The species itself was not a dinosaur, however an extinct group of reptiles associated to fashionable crocodiles and alligators known as a peirosaurid crocodyliform.

“The completeness of the brand new specimen reveals, for the primary time, the anatomy and physique plan of a giant and broad snouted peirosaurid,” scientists wrote.

Its massive physique dimension, snout form, sharp tooth, in addition to a number of variations are indicative of a predatory life-style.

“Broad-snouted peirosaurids had been seemingly prime predators, as evidenced by a number of variations indicative of a predatory life-style and its massive physique dimension,” researchers wrote.

Scientists suspect the crocodile relative’s tooth had shearing edges that enabled it to puncture and slice by way of the flesh of “sizeable prey”.

“These options, in addition to a lowered tooth depend that Kostensuchus lacks, have been interpreted as variations in the direction of hypercarnivory,” researchers wrote.

“The brand new crocodyliform provides to the predatorial part of terrestrial ecosystems at excessive paleolatitudes by the top of the Cretaceous Interval,” they wrote.