giant Crocodiles vs dinosaurs. It could be the plot of a film of Z-series but that is what happened in south Africa in the last 210 million years ago. A titanic clash in which the dinosaurs, according to a new scientific research, they had to lose.
Researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, south Africa) have analyzed a few old fossils demonstrate that at least two species of rauisuquios, creatures, closely related to the crocodiles modern, sowed terror among the dinosaurs herbivores of the Triassic. The specimens described in the research, which include colossal predators that could attain ten meters long , with huge skulls full of teeth, serrated and curved.
"It's amazing to follow the clues that are left in teeth, jaws, limbs, and other fossils to help us tell the ancient history of life in south Africa", says Rick Tolchard, author of the study. The fossils studied include teeth, pieces of jaw, hind limbs and body armor, all of which can be described as parts of rauisuquios.
Near the AntártidaEjemplo of teeth rauisuquios in the collections of Wits - Wits University
The study, published in "Journal of African Earth Sciences", shows that the rauisuquios were some of the last surviving members of their group, and that when they were alive, prospered near the Antarctic Circle: the theoretical limit for your physiology.
"In the Triassic period, the rauisuquios were very widespread, and their fossils are known in all continents except Antarctica," added Tolchard. "They became extinct about 200 million years ago, paving the way for the dinosaurs to become large terrestrial animals, dominant".
"The study of Rick demonstrates the value of re-examine old specimens, and now finally we know who was taking advantage of all of these herbivorous dinosaurs!", the teacher says Jonah Choiniere, advisor, Rick and professor of paleobiology compared in the Institute of Evolutionary Studies of Wits.
Date Of Update: 26 September 2019, 09:01
