Researchers Uncover Fossils of New Species of Prehistoric Reptile in Texas

Posted on January 30, 2014

Researchers from Texas Tech University have uncovered fossils of a new species of prehistoric reptile in West Texas. The fossils have been identified as a new species of phytosaur. The Triassic-age creature lived about 205 million years ago. West Texas is very dry today, but during the Triassic it would have been more like a swampy, tropical rainforest.

A female skull found at the site (pictured above) still had its teeth intact, which is very unusual. The males had a bony crest that stretched from the nostrils by the eyes to the tip of the animal's beak. Scientists say in a release that lady phytosaurs probably found this feature sexy. The female would have measured 16 to 17 feet in length from nose to tail tip and the male would have been about 17 to 18 feet long. The creatures had thin jaws which the scientists say meant they probably hunted primarily fish and not big prey.

Bill Mueller, assistant curator of Paleontology at the Museum of Texas Tech University, said the team named their find Machaeroprosopus lottorum after the Lott family who own the ranch on which the animal was discovered.

Mueller said in a statement, "We found them in an area we'd been excavating in. I think we've gotten four skulls out of that area already. Doug Cunningham found this specimen, and then we dug it up. When he found it, just the very back end of the skull was sticking out of the ground. The rest was buried. We excavated it and brought it into the museum to finish preparation."

Mueller also says, "A phytosaur resembles a crocodile. They had basically the same lifestyle as the modern crocodile by living in and around the water, eating fish, and whatever animals came to the margins of the rivers and lakes. But one of the big differences is the external nares, the nose, is back up next to its eyes instead of at the end of its snout."

Take a look:

The findings were published here in the journal, Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.



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