High-tech CT reveals ancient evolutionary adaptation of extinct crocodylomorphs
Thursday, June 18, 2020 - 12:01
in Paleontology & Archaeology
The tree of life is rich in examples of species that changed from living in water to a land-based existence. Occasionally, some species took the opposite direction. New insights into the anatomy of the inner ear of prehistoric reptiles, the thalattosuchians, revealed details about one of these evolutionary turning points. During the Mesozoic era, these now extinct crocodile relatives ventured into the ocean after a long semiaquatic phase.