Re: New sphenosuchian crocodile from China

[Mickey Rowe <rowe@psych.ucsb.edu>]

[ Held up by the uysual technical glitch.  This is the "earlier" news
  release Ben referred to in a message that to you came... earlier.
  -- MPR ] 

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  From: BCreisler@aol.com
  Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 21:42:46 -0400 (EDT)
  Subject: New sphenosuchian crocodile from China
  To: dinosaur@usc.edu

  From: Ben Creisler bh480
  preview of article in this week's Nature:

  How croc got its smile
  24/08/2004 13:04 - (SA) 
  Paris - Crocodiles developed their characteristic wide skull and "smiley" 
  jaws millions of years before they ventured from the land and into water, 
  according to a study of a crocodilian ancestor found in China. 
  The fossil, which dates back to the Middle Jurassic period of between 144 and 
  205 million years ago, is of a creature called a sphenosuchian, measuring 
  about 1.5 metres at most, and is believed to be the most directly-related 
  forerunner of today's crocodiles and ancestors. 
  The specimen has the thick, broad skull familiar of the croc, pointing to the 
  powerful jaw muscles that are used to crush its victims to death. 
  But it also has slender, erect limbs and graceful hands that are aligned with 
  the rest of the forelimb - rather than splayed out as in living crocodilians 
  - - and this shows sphenosuchians were designed for walking on the ground. 
  "The consolidation of the crocodilian skull thus began well before 
  crocodilians entered the water," says the study, lead-authored by George 
Washington 
  University palaeontologist James Clark. 
  The research appears on Thursday in Nature, the British weekly science 
  journal. 
  Living crocodilians comprise three families in 23 species, divided into three 
  families - crocodiles; alligators and caimans; and a third family called 
  gavialidae. 
  These creatures have remained essentially unchanged for 65 million years, 
  making them among the most successful animals in the world today. 
  The fossil studied by Clark's team was found in Wucaiwang, Xinjiang province, 
  in northeastern China. 
  http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_1577867,00.html
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