Scientists have identified a new species of ancient crocodile relative that walked upright on two legs with a toothless beak. The creature, named Labrujasuchus expectatus, lived during the Late Triassic in what is now New Mexico.
The discovery was described in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Researchers recovered the fossils from the Hayden Quarry at Ghost Ranch. Labrujasuchus expectatus belonged to the shuvosaurid group within the archosaur lineage that led to modern crocodiles yet evolved a body plan similar to bipedal theropod dinosaurs.