For the first time, scientists have found indisputable evidence that an ancient crocodile ancestor chowed down on a dinosaur.
Preserved within a fossilized crocodyliform, a member of a newfound species dubbed Confractosuchus sauroktonos, are the partially digested remains of a juvenile bipedal ornithopod, paleontologist Matt White of the University of New England in Australia and colleagues report February 10 in Gondwana Research.
Crocodyliforms include modern species like crocodiles and alligators as well as their ancestors. Those ancestors lived alongside dinosaurs for millions of years, and previous evidence, such as bite marks on fossilized dinosaur bones, has hinted that croc ancestors dined on dinosaurs when the opportunity arose (SN: 10/24/01).
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