SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY
Prehistoric "Shield"-Headed Croc Found
from National Geographic News
A new prehistoric croc sporting an odd head "shield" has been found in Morocco, according to a study published Tuesday. Dubbed ShieldCroc, the animal's head appendage was surrounded by blood vessels and covered with a sheath like those seen in frilled dinosaurs, including Triceratops.
At 30 to 35 feet long, the river-dwelling monster would have preyed on other giant animals of the late Cretaceous, such as 13-foot-long (4-meter-long) coelacanths. But ShieldCroc--formally Aegisuchus witmeri--likely boasted relatively weak jaws, at least compared with those of today's crocodiles.
"It's fairly certain that it belonged to a group of crocodyliforms--including the flat-headed crocs--that had really thin, weak jaws and weak chin joints," said researcher Casey Holliday, a paleontologist at the University of Missouri. Crocodyliforms are part of a group known as the crocodilians, which includes modern-day alligators, caimans, and more.
Read more...
Science in the Media
Newspapers:
Magazines and Web Sites:
The Science-Media Intersection:
Subscribe to Our Content!
Visit our RSS Feeds page to choose among 13 customized feeds, or create a free My AmSci account to request an email notice whenever a specified author, department or discipline appears online.