North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and North Carolina State University paleontologists reported that a nine-foot tall crocodilian ancestor was likely one of North America’s most powerful predators around 231million years before dinosaurs arrived. The ‘Carolina Butcher’, also scientifically known as Carnufex carolinensis was a land-dwelling Crocodylomorph, which is the modern crocodilian. It walked on its hind legs and stood upright. The findings were published in Scientific Reports, an open-access journal (citation below). Carnufex carolinensis: A reconstruction from life. Jorge Gonzales, Image Credit. Scientists have recovered a portion of the upper forelimb and spine from Carnufex, which was found in Chatham County North Carolina’s Pekin Formation. It was difficult to see the entire skull of this creature, which was kept in fragments. To get a better view of Carnufex’ skull, the researchers used a high resolution surface scanner. The researchers then built a 3-D model using skulls from closely related species. North Carolina’s Pekin Formation contains sediments that were deposited 231 millions of years ago at the start of the Late Triassic. The region was warm and wet with an equatorial environment that was beginning to separate from Pangea, the supercontinent. A Carnufex Carolinensis skull reconstruction. White is used to show 3-D models of skull bones. The grey areas represent the parts that have been reconstructed using close relatives to Carnufex. Image Credit: Lindsay Zanno. Ancestors of Crocodiles. Lindsay Zanno is an assistant researcher at NC State and director of the Paleontology, Geology, and Evolution labs at the museum. Professor Zanno stated that the theropod, a carnivorous dinosaur belonging to a group of animals whose members were usually two-legged, was found in the Southern Hemisphere. Tyrannosaurus Rex was also a theropod. The discovery adds diversity to predators. However, the latest Carnufex discoveries suggest that large-bodied Crocodylomorphs in the Northern Hemisphere were adding diversity to creatures at the top of the food chain. Professor Zanno said, “We knew there were too many high-profile performers in the Late Triassic. But, we didn’t know the true story of Carnufex until now. Professor Zanno stated that theropods served as understudies to fill top predatory niches left vacant by large-bodied crocs or their descendants. These roles were filled by predatory dinosaurs only for the next 135million years.” However, ancient crocodiles survived in other areas. Susan Drymala (a NC State graduate student), is the co-author. She said that theropod dinosaurs made it big and theropod ancestors took over a similar role to foxes, or jackals. They had small bodies with long limbs, and sleek, slim bodies. These animals can be pictured as a modern-day fox with alligator skin. The specimen was found by Vincent Schneider at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences and was analyzed by Professor Zanno and Ms. Drymala. Citation: Lindsay E. Zanno and Susan Drymala. Sterling J. Nesbitt, Vincent P. Schneider. Scientific Reports. Publication March 19, 2015. DOI: 10. 1038/srep09276.
North America was ruled by a fearsome, upright crocodile before dinosaurs came
