130m-year-old skull belongs to formerly unknown species

A well-preserved historic crocodile skull has been declared a new species.

The specimen, which is 130 million-years-old, has been named Goniopholis Kiplini after Rudyard Kipling — author of The Jungle Book — in recognition of his enthusiasm for natural sciences.

Dating to the early Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs walked the earth, the animal would have lived with other crocodiles as well as turtles and fish in the shallow lagoon that covered much of Purbeck, Dorset.