A new study found out that about 205 million years ago, two 17-foot long phytosaurs (crocodile-like reptiles) died in an oxbow lake in Texas and got buried on the same spot for centuries.
Researchers found fossil of the swamp monster officially named as Machaeroprosopus lottorum which has a 2-foot (0.6 meter) long snout that can be compared to our modern-day gharial that preys on fish and amphibians. This ancient creature was given the name M.lottorum after the Lott family. They own the Texas Panhandle where the two skulls were discovered back in 2001.
Doug Cunningham, a field research assistant at the Museum of Texas Tech University and co-author of the study, said to National Geographic, "We were all kind of in awe of it. It had this long, skinny snout. It was quite a bit different from the skulls of known phytosaurs."
The discovery of this odd looking skull leads researchers to further study this as a new species. Scientists believe that there could be more species of Triassic phytosaurs than what is known today.
Other paleontologists who studied the skulls of the swamp monster believe that these skulls may be a new species due to some differences such as an opening called the supratemporal fenestra which is in a different location on the known phytosaurs.
Furthermore, they think that the two skulls may be of a male and female phytosaur. Paleontologists believe that one of the skulls have a bony crest from nostril to break tip which is believed to be a female-attracting feature that can only be found on male animals which the other skull did not have.
Since only few skeletons have been found, the information about the phytosaur is just speculation. If paleontologist can find an intact skeleton then a confirmation of this swamp-dweller can be made.
The study was published in the journal Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
