Ancestor of modern crocodile found in Brazil - 'Missing link'

Rio de Janeiro - The fossilized remains of an ancestor of the modern crocodile have been found in Brazil, local media reported Friday.

Brazilian palaeontologist Antonio Celso de Arruda Campos with a fossil of a newly discovered prehistoric crocodile (Montealtosuchus arrudacamposi) after a news conference at the Federal University in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 31 January 2008. Brazilian paleontologists announced the discovery of a fossil of a new species of prehistoric predator that provides a 'missing link' to modern-day crocodiles. EPA/ANTONIO LACERDASouth American scientists described the finding as a 'missing link' between dinosaurs and crocodiles. The prehistoric beast, which lived some 80 million years ago, looked very similar to modern-day crocodiles. However, according to the reports, it did not live in the water but on dry land. Palaeontologists from the Federal University in Rio de Janeiro and from the Monte Alto Palaeontology Museum in the state of Sao Paulo presented on Thursday, among other things, a figure of the animal, which was some 1.70 metres long and weighed 30-40 kilogrammes and which belonged to the Peirosauridae family. The fossil - discovered in 2004 by a team led by museum chief Antonio Celso de Arruda Campos near Monte Alto - was given the name Montealtosuchus arrudacamposi, to honour the place where it was found and the person who discovered the remains. Scientists said some 80 per cent of the skeleton was found, and it was in a good state. 'This is a great find, which allows us to complete the evolution of the crocodile over the course of millions of years,' scientist Felipe de Vasconcellos told the Friday edition of the daily Folha de Sao Paulo. The fossil will also contribute to solving the question of what the environment was like at the time, in the late Cretaceous Period, the scientist added. 'Like in primitive crocodile forms, the skull is shorter and is higher in relation to the trunk. The lower jaw, the legs and the vertebrae, in turn, already recall the modern crocodile,' Vasconcellos said. Scientists believe that the Montealtosuchus arrudacamposi had relatively long legs, was very agile and was carnivorous. However, unlike crocodiles, it almost always remained on dry land. 'We know that from the eyes. In the Montealtosuchus they were rather to the side, as is the case in cows or horses. Current-day crocodiles, which live mainly in the water, have their eyes at the top of their heads,' Vasconcellos explained. Further details were published in the specialist magazine Zootaxa.