Fossils Fill in Gap in Crocodile Evolution
A new species of crocodile that lived 40 million years ago has been discovered in tropical Australia, filling a gap in the animal’s evolution, researchers said.
The remains -- two nearly complete skulls and a lower jaw -- were unearthed by miners in the northern state of Queensland.
Scientists said the new species, which closely resembles the modern-day freshwater crocodile, belonged to the extinct genus Mekosuchinae.
“There is a big gap from about 30 to 60 million years ago of which we have no clue, except for these guys,” Lucas Buchanan of Australia’s Monash University said Thursday.
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