Newly Discovered “Witch Croc” Reveals Dinosaur-Like Evolution in the Triassic

A newly described fossil from Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, belongs to the crocodile family tree, but unlike most crocodile-line archosaurs, it walked on two legs, had small arms, and a toothless beak.

Newly Discovered “Witch Croc” Reveals Dinosaur-Like Evolution in the Triassic. A newly described fossil from Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, belongs to the crocodile family tree, but unlike most crocodile-line archosaurs, it walked on two legs, had small arms, and a toothless beak. Researchers from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and collaborating institutions described the species Labrujasuchus expectatus in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. This animal belongs to Shuvosauridae, a rare group of ancient crocodile relatives that independently evolved body structures similar to those of bipedal, ostrich-like dinosaurs. Those dinosaurs evolved much later within a separate lineage. Only a small number of shuvosaur species have been identified to date. The Triassic Era The Triassic period, which took place about 252 to 201 mill...