[Science] 'Carolina Butcher' is crocodile that ran on two legs 230M years ago

[lioneatszebra]

'Carolina Butcher' is massive crocodile that ran on two legs 230 million years ago
From NY Daily News

Behold the fearsome "Carolina Butcher," a 9-foot-long ancestor of the modern crocodile whose skeleton was discovered in the Pekin Formation in Chatham County, N.C.

A 9-foot-long, 230-million-year-old fanged crocodile that used to roam across North Carolina on its back legs has been discovered.

Carnufex carolinesis — which translates to "Carolina Butcher" — is thought to have prowled the state hundreds of millions of years ago.

The blade-toothed beast had a bizarrely long skull and feasted on armored reptiles and early mammals.

But unlike its modern descendants, it was not aquatic and did not walk on four legs.

Instead, it's thought to have been mainly land-based — and prowled around upright on its hind limbs.

Paleontologists from North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences found shattered parts of the prehistoric croc's skull, spine and leg while digging in the Pekin Formation in Chatham County.

They scanned in the individual bones of the skull to create a 3D model. The group's findings have been published in the journal Scientific Research.

"As one of the earliest and oldest crocodylomorphs, Carnufex was a far cry from living crocodiles," wrote Lindsay Zanno.

"It was an agile, terrestrial predator that hunted on land. Carnufex predates the group that living crocodiles belong to," she added.

The "Carolina Butcher's" period at the top of the chain did not last, however, as it was killed off when the Triassic period ended.

Smaller crocodylomorphs were left untouched, and went on to evolve into the crocodiles that we know today.

"As theropod dinosaurs started to make it big, the ancestors of modern crocs initially took on a role similar to foxes or jackals, with small, sleek bodies and long limbs," said study co-author Susan Drymala.

"If you want to picture these animals, just think of a modern-day fox, but with alligator skin instead of fur," she said.