A newly discovered crocodilian ancestor is believed to have been the most ferocious predator in North America before the reign of the dinosaurs.
The Carnufex carolinensis, nicknamed the "Carolina Butcher," was about nine feet tall and walked on its hind legs, North Carolina State University reported.
The ancient species was discovered when paleontologists found fossilized pieces of the skull, spine and forelimb in the Pekin Formation in Chatham County, N.C. The bones were scanned with imaging technology to create a 3-D model of the Carnufex's skull that incorporated skull pieces of close ancestors.
The animal is believed to have walked the Earth around 231 million years ago in the beginning of the Late Triassic (the Carnian), when the region that is now North Carolina was beginning to break away from the supercontinent Pangea.
"Fossils from this time period are extremely important to scientists because they record the earliest appearance of crocodylomorphs and theropod dinosaurs, two groups that first evolved in the Triassic period, yet managed to survive to the present day in the form of crocodiles and birds," said Lindsay Zanno, assistant research professor at NC State, director of the Paleontology and Geology lab at the museum, and lead author of a paper describing the find. "The discovery of Carnufex, one of the world's earliest and largest crocodylomorphs, adds new information to the push and pull of top terrestrial predators across Pangea."
Once the Triassic ended, extinction greatly depleted the number of large predators in the region, leaving behind only small crocodylomorphs and theropods. For the next 135 million years or so dinosaurs replaced large crocodylomorphs as the top predators.
"As theropod dinosaurs started to make it big, the ancestors of modern crocs initially took on a role similar to foxes or jackals, with small, sleek bodies and long limbs," said Susan Drymala, a graduate student at NC State and co-author of the paper. "If you want to picture these animals, just think of a modern day fox, but with alligator skin instead of fur."
The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal Scientific Reports.
