Crocodile cousins ​​appeared 212 million years ago

Seeker reports, Emily Lesser, University of Virginia graduate student, Polytechnic University, USA describes the new creature named Vivaron haydeni in a study published in PeerJ magazine on September 6.

They have the last name of the modern crocodile, lived about 212 million years ago, when the US state of New Mexico was also a western part of the supercontinent Pangea, formed 300 million years ago.

Vivaron Haydeni 's bones were first found in 2009, during an excavation at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico state, USA. Excavation by Sterling Nesbitt, now assistant professor of Virgia Polytechnic University, is in charge.

Vivaron haydeni appeared 212 million years ago, has a family name of crocodiles today.(Photo: Matt Celeskey).

"Those are the largest predators of that period. All dinosaurs are smaller than them," Nesbitt explained.

Nesbitt didn't know it was a fossil of a new species. In 2014, they were sent to Virgina Polytechnic University. After that, Lesser used some samples to study.

Based on the jawbone, the skull fragment and the hip bone collected from three different individuals, Lesser recreated the image of Vivaron. They go on all fours and are about 5.5m long.

Vivaron haydeni is the sixth known species of Rauisuchid, the Triassic carnivorous reptile group , which lasted from about 200 million to 251 million years ago.

Their fossils were found in Hayden Quarry, northern New Mexico state. Lesser believes that there are still many specimens here."Other bones have the ability to be collected before or still in the ground," Lesser said.