Paleontologist team leader Junki Yoshida from Japan’s Hokkaido University said the crocodile, which once roamed the Serengeti landscape in Wyoming, has 30 sharp teeth measuring 2 inches and has a unique breathing system. (Read also; 5 Rivers with the Most and Most Dangerous Crocodiles in the World )
Junki Yoshida revealed the origin of the unique respiratory system used for diving in the form of nasal passages that extend backwards. Then the tongue bone is short and curved similar to modern crocodiles. (Read also; 8 Interesting Facts About Crocodiles, All Beyond Sense )
“This suggests that by keeping their external nostrils above the water’s surface, the ancestors of crocodiles could have raised valves on their tongues. They can breathe underwater while holding prey in their mouths, as modern crocodiles do today,” said Junki Yoshida, quoted by SINDOnews from the dailmail page, Wednesday (12/8/2021).
In the journal Royal Society Open Science, Junki Yoshida explains, the Amphicotylus miles fossil provides new insights into the aquatic adaptations of modern crocodiles. Modern crocodiles are able to hold their breath for up to an hour underwater.
Currently there are only 25 species of crocodiles that are still alive, whereas during the time of the dinosaurs there were hundreds of species. Some species even reach 30 feet in length and weigh three tons or six times that of Amphicotylus milesi.
Researchers believe that Amphicotylus milesi was an opportunistic predator and ate everything from small fish frogs, lizards, and turtles to possibly herbivorous dinosaurs and pterosaurs.
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