Reconstruction of the life of a species of phytosaur called Protome bataria.
Nationalgeographic.co.id—Fossils of a new Genus and species of giant crocodile-like reptile have been reported to have been found in India. Paleontologists from the Indian Institute of Technology have described the fossil and named it Colossosuchus techniensis.
The new species roamed our planet during the Upper Triassic, between 235 and 208 million years ago.
The era began 252 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period, and ended 201 million years ago, when it was replaced by the Jurassic period.
The ancient animal was a type of phytosaurus (family Phytosauridae), a group of extinct large semi-aquatic crocodile-like reptiles.
Phytosaurus is an extinct group of semiaquatic reptiles that had hard, armored bodies. This animal is not a dinosaur, even though the name sounds similar.
Despite the strong similarities between fitosaurs and crocodiles, the two groups are not closely related.
Phytosaurus is thought to have evolved before dinosaurs and crocodiles separated. Some of the fitosaurs evolved into crocodile-like animals, with long, slender snouts studded with sharp teeth perfect for grasping slippery prey.
The findings have been described in the journal Papers in Palaentology recently. The paper can be obtained online under the title “A giant phytosaurs (Diapsida, Archosauria) from the Upper Triassic of India with new insights on phytosaur migration, endemism and extinction.”
“A phylogenetic analysis included Colossosuchus techniensis and other as yet undescribed specimens from India within Mystriosuchinae,” said Indian Institute of Technology paleontologists Debajit Datta and Sanghamitra Ray.
Colossosuchus techniensis is a new species of giant crocodile-like reptile from India.
The analysis is an approach that focuses on evolution and its relationship to groups of organisms. “It forms a distinct clade and represents the earliest record of endemism among Gondwana phytosaurs.”
This clade was reinstated as a sister species to Volcanosuchus + Rutiodon + Leptosuchomorpha, in which the depressed supratemporal fenestra (upper part of the temporal bone) first appeared in the phytosaurus lineage.
