Argentina Fossil Find Reveals 20-Foot Triassic Crocodile That Ruled 237 Million Years Ago
Updated
Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 12
Argentina Fossil Find Reveals 20-Foot Triassic Crocodile That Ruled 237 Million Years Ago
1 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 12
Summary
Shakajlura riojanensis, a newly identified crocodile relative from Argentina, measured nearly 20 feet long and likely ranked among the Triassic’s apex predators before large dinosaurs rose.
237 million-year-old fossils from La Rioja’s Chañares Formation included jawbones, skull pieces, a vertebra, limb fragments and an almost complete hip, allowing researchers to classify the animal as a paracrocodylomorph.
Blade-like serrated teeth and a bite thought comparable to modern crocodiles suggest it preyed on dicynodonts, though outside experts say its hunting style may have mixed ambush with short pursuits rather than sustained chases.
The find is rare—the last fossil from this group described in Argentina was reported in 1997—and the Kakán-derived name Shakajlura means “blessed lizard.”
The discovery also sheds light on ecosystems recovering after the Permian mass extinction 252 million years ago, when crocodile-like predators still dominated parts of the world before dinosaurs took over.
Before dinosaurs ruled, a 20-foot upright crocodile dominated Argentina; what secrets does this apex predator reveal about Earth's deadliest extinction recovery?
Could the terrifying ground-based ambush tactics of this 237-million-year-old crocodile relative have actively suppressed the evolutionary rise of early dinosaurs?