‘Carolina Butcher’ croc roamed land on two legs

A newly discovered crocodile ancestor that lived on land and walked on two legs may have been a top predator before dinosaurs took over the world.

Carnufex carolinensis, whose name means Carolina Butcher, was 2.7m long and thought to have preyed on other reptiles and mammals.

It lived in North Carolina, 231m years ago at the start of the Late Triassic period when the region had a wet equatorial climate and was starting to break away from the ancient supercontinent Pangea.