The terrifying Carolina Butcher
The English translation of its Latin name alone is enough to curdle your blood in fear.
That's because descriptions of this fearsome but extinct species of prehistoric American crocodile is the stuff of nightmares. This monster's Latin name is "Carnuflex carolinensis," a phrase that translates into "Carolina Butcher".
This voracious killer was the top predator of its time. It lived in what's now North Carolina some 231 million years ago or before the dinosaurs arrived.
But it was only recently that scientists announced the discovery of this predator that, surprisingly, walked upright on its two hind legs.
The Carolina Butcher was a horrifying nine foot-long (2.7 meters) crocodilian ancestor that devoured pretty much everything in its path, including armored reptiles. It was one of the world's earliest and largest crocodylomorphs (Crocodylomorpha), a group of creatures that includes modern and extinct crocodile relatives.
This new species of prehistoric crocodile was identified by a team of paleontologists led by Dr. Lindsay Zanno of North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, said Sci-News.
The fossilized skull, spine and upper forelimb of this animal were collected from the Upper Triassic Pekin Formation in Chatham County, North Carolina.
"Fossils from this time period are extremely important to scientists because they record the earliest appearance of crocodylomorphs and theropod dinosaurs, two groups that first evolved in the Triassic period, yet managed to survive to the present day in the form of crocodiles and birds," said Dr Zanno.
Dr. Zanno and her colleagues believe Carnufex carolinensis might have been one of North America's top predators before dinosaurs arrived on the ancient supercontinent called Pangaea.
She said the typicasl predators roaming Pangaea included large-bodied rauisuchids and poposauroids, which were monstrous cousins of ancient crocodiles that went extinct in the Triassic Period.
Dr. Zanno noted the discovery of Carnufex carolinensis indicates that in North America, large-bodied crocodylomorphs, not dinosaurs, were the top predators.
