100-million-year-old crocodile species discovered in Thailand

A SPECIES of crocodile that lived 100 million years ago has been identified from a fossil found in Thailand, researchers said yesterday.

Komsorn Lauprasert, a scientist at Mahasarakham University, said the species had longer legs than modern-day crocodiles and probably fed on fish, based on the characteristics of its teeth.

“They were living on land and could run very fast,” said Komsorn, who noticed the skull fossil in a museum in the summer of 2006. The 6in-long fossil was originally retrieved from an excavation site in Nakhon Rathchasima province, also known as Korat, but had not been identified as belonging to a distinct species.