Researchers have digitally reconstructed the skull of Crassigyrinus scoticus, a 330-million-year-old species, revealing a shape similar to a modern crocodile rather than the previously assumed tall skull. The discovery sheds light on the behavior of this ancient predator, which lived in coal swamps
Crassigyrinus was well adapted for life as an aquatic predator. Credit: © Bob Nicholls 2018, a 330-million-year-old, revealing a shape similar to a modern crocodile rather than the previously assumed tall skull. The discovery sheds light on the behavior of this ancient predator, which lived in coal swamps and likely hunted like modern crocodiles.
Advances in CT scanning and 3D visualization mean that a team of researchers has now been able to piece the fragments back together for the first time, revealing whatDr. Laura Porro of University College London , the lead author of the new study, says, “This animal has previously been reconstructed with a very tall skull, similar to a Moray eel, based on the type specimen in Edinburgh which has been flattened from side-to-side.
“Instead, it would have had a skull similar in shape to a modern crocodile, with its huge teeth and powerful jaws allowing it to eat practically anything which crossed its path.”, is dedicated to co-author Professor Jenny Clack, a pioneering paleontologist who revolutionized our understanding of early tetrapod evolution, and who passed away in 2020.
“These animals were preserved in fine-grained rock that provides great contrast when CT scanning,” Laura explains. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t provide much structural integrity, so as more material piled up on top ofThis means that while some of the known specimens are quite complete, they are all broken and deformed. The bones are shattered into many pieces, flattened, and laid on top of each other, which in the past has led to a variety of different reconstructions.
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