Scientists have announced the discovery of an ancient, mammal-like crocodile that knew how to chew, something its modern gash-and-gulp cousins can’t do.
The 100-million-year-old reptile, unearthed in Tanzania, was about the size of a domesticated cat and more at home on land than in water.
It had an unusually lean profile, a flexible backbone and relatively little scaly armor around its midriff, the better to leap in the air to grab giant dragonflies and other airborne prey.
But the most bitingly distinctive feature of Pakasuchus kapilimai, the researchers said, was its choppers.
It shared the overhanging, fang-like canines that today’s alligators and crocodiles use to rip into their victims’ flesh before swallowing them more-or-less whole.
But it also had specialized teeth that looked suspiciously like the molars once thought to be unique to our distant warm-blooded ancestors.
“At first glance, this croc is trying very hard to be a mammal,” quipped Patrick O’Connor, a professor at Ohio University in Athens and lead author of the study, published in Nature.
“A number of characteristics of this new species are very similar to features that were critical during the course of mammalian evolution from the Mesozoic into the Cenozoic,” which began 65 million years ago, he said in a statement.
The discovery adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that crocodiles were once far more diverse than they are today in body type, habitat and appetites.
O’Connor and colleagues found a complete skeleton of Pakasuchus in Tanzania’s Rukwa Rift Basin in 2008, and have also recovered portions of seven different individuals.(afp)
科學家宣布發現一種類似哺乳類的遠古鱷魚具有咀嚼能力，這是牠們只會大咬一口吞下的現代鱷魚表親無法做到的。
這種存在於一億年前的爬蟲類，是在坦尚尼亞被人發現。體型跟家貓差不多大，喜歡陸地多於水中的生活。
這種動物的體型特別瘦，有個柔軟的脊椎，腹部還有相對較小的鱗片，方便牠跳到空中抓住大蜻蜓和其他空中獵物。
研究人員表示，這種叫做「貓鱷」的動物最厲害的特徵，就是牠的尖牙。
牠和現代短吻鱷跟鱷魚一樣有著類似犬齒的鋒利尖牙，可以 在一口吞下獵物前加以撕咬。
但牠又有類似臼齒（一度被認為只有人類溫血遠祖才有）的特殊牙齒。
俄亥俄大學雅典校區教授，也是《自然雜誌》刊文的主要作者派粹克•歐康納諷刺地說：「乍看之下，這貓鱷很努力的想成為哺乳類。」
他透過聲明表示：「這個新物種的許多特徵都跟六千五百萬年前中生代到新生代間，哺乳類演化的過程非常相似。」
這項發現提供更多證據顯示，以往鱷魚的體型、棲息地與食物比起現在要多元許多。
歐康納跟同事二００八年時曾在坦尚尼亞的魯垮裂谷發現一副完整的貓鱷骨骸，及其他七隻貓鱷的部分化石。
（法新社╱翻譯：吳岱璟）
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