Like modern crocodiles, this strange ancient reptile was probably a carnivore, but otherwise it bears little resemblance to them.
By Adam Kovac edited by Claire Cameron
Jorge Gonzalez; Copyright NHMLAC Dinosaur Institute
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More than 200 million years ago, a strange toothless reptile with a beak and tiny arms stomped on its hind legs in what is now New Mexico. It may not have looked like it, but this newly identified creature was an ancient relative of a group of modern animals with a fearsome reputation: crocodiles.
The remains of the reptile were discovered in 2006 in a New Mexico quarry well known to paleontologists for its rich trove of fossils from the Triassic era. The bones closely resemble those belonging to the two recognized North American species of Shuvosauridae, a clade of ancient bipedal reptiles that lived until the Late Triassic. But the new Shuvosaurid specimen looked slightly different, says Alan Turner, professor of anatomical sciences at Stony Brook University and leader of the team that discovered the remains. First, the bones were dated to about 212 million years ago, which was younger than one of the North American Shuvosaurid species and later than the others. And there were subtle physiological differences, like in his humerus. Turner and colleagues presented the results in a study In Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
“We look at these little details, because these are the things that evolutionary processes shape, and this allows us to access their family tree in this way,” he says.
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Called Labrujasuchus expectatus, the new species belongs to a lineage which today includes crocodiles– but the relationship is distant. Above all, L. expected which received the nickname “witch crocodile” because of the area in which it was discovered, previously known in Spanish as the Witches’ Ranch, is “certainly not the direct ancestors of modern alligators and crocodiles,” Turner says. “You can think of them as very, very distant cousins. They split off hundreds of millions of years ago from the group that ultimately leads us to alligators and crocodiles. It’s kind of a side branch.”
Modern crocodiles are known for their rows of razor-sharp teeth, but L. expected didn’t have any. Teeth or no teeth, it’s difficult to determine what his diet consisted of, Turner says. Birds also have a beak and no teeth, which does not prevent the eagle from being carnivorous. And L. expected evolved so long ago that fruits didn’t really exist. Although it is not possible to say for sure, Turner believes the reptile was a meat eater and possibly a scavenger.
The new species helps to further enrich our ever-expanding understanding of evolutionary history. L. expected was technically not a dinosaur, although it looked and probably acted like one, Turner points out. Learning more about this could advance scientific understanding of convergent evolutionhe said.
“That’s what I find most interesting in an animal like L. expectedTurner adds. “This is one more data point we have to further explore these models on this important evolutionary process.”
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