Round 13.5 million years in the past, an unusually small species of crocodile roamed by means of Queensland, Australia. And a brand new paper revealed in The Anatomical File and The Journal of Anatomy says that the evaluation of the species’ cranium reveals novel findings about its dimension, form and stomping grounds.

Learning a Unusual, Small Croc

Although there are solely two snaggle-toothed species — the saltwater crocodile and the freshwater crocodile — in Australia at the moment, a tremendous range of historical crocs as soon as dominated over Queensland. Actually, these species got here in a wide range of dimensions and shapes and settled in a wide range of niches outdoors of the standard swamps and marshlands.

“If we might journey again in time to North Queensland 13 million years in the past, not solely would it’s worthwhile to be careful for crocodiles on the water’s edge, however you’d additionally must be sure you didn’t step on them within the forest,” says Steve Salisbury, a senior research writer and paleontology professor on the College of Queensland, in a press launch.

Aiming to uncover new details about these historical crocs, Salisbury and a workforce turned to a small species often known as Trilophosuchus rackhami. Identified solely from its fossilized cranium, this long-extinct species is shrouded in secrets and techniques.

“This was a really distinctive trying croc, with a brief snout and three distinct ridges on the highest of its cranium,” says Jorgo Ristevski, a major research writer and paleontology researcher on the College of Queensland, in a press launch.

Within the evaluation, the workforce used state-of-the-art imaging methods to surmise that T. rackhami remained lower than 4 kilos and three ft lengthy all through its grownup life, a dimension “which was very small in comparison with most present-day crocs,” Ristevski says in a press launch.

Furthermore, the workforce’s evaluation confirmed that the species’ cranium was additionally uniquely formed, indicating that T. rackhami spent its time tromping by means of terrestrial areas somewhat than aquatic ones.

“I digitally reconstructed the mind cavity of [T. rackhami] and located that it resembles that of some distantly associated and probably terrestrial extinct crocs from Africa and South America,” Ristevski says in a press launch. “This will likely point out that [T. rackhami] spent extra time on land than most residing crocs.”

Finally, the researchers say that their findings present perception into historical crocodile anatomy and exercise. They might additionally contribute to additional investigations of the evolution of extinct crocodilians someday sooner or later.