A new species of crocodylomorph from the Triassic has been named from Gloucester, UK. Looking a little like a reptilian greyhound, this animal lived on land and was fast-moving, with slender, elongate limbs. It would have stalked the undergrowth for small reptiles, amphibians and early mammals when this part of the world was an upland surrounded by hot, arid plains.
The first part of the species name comes from Galahad, a knight renowned in Arthurian legend for his moral uprightness as a reflection of the crocodylomorph’s upright stance. But the second part of the name honours David Rhys Jones, a schoolteacher at Ysgol Uwchradd Aberteifi in Cardigan, Wales, who taught the lead author of the paper.
“We named it after my secondary school physics teacher,” says Ewan Bodenham, PhD student at the Natural History Museum London and UCL, lead author of the new paper.
“Mr Jones was just such a good teacher, not only in being able to explain things well, but you could tell that he was genuinely interested in the sciences. I think that really inspired me.”
“He also didn’t let me settle. He was very good at challenging people and helping students be the best they can be. Above all, he’s a very funny, genuine, nice guy.”
The remains of the ancient crocodile came from a series of fissure deposits found on both sides of the Bristol Channel in southern Wales and southwest England. Animals that died on the surface were washed into these caves and then covered with sediment.
Among these remains was an animal known as Terrestrisuchus. This belonged to the same larger group as modern-day crocodiles, known as Crocodylomorpha, but is one of the group’s earliest ancestors. As with Galahadosuchus, but unlike today’s crocodiles and alligators, it had long, slender legs and would have lived its entire life on land.
“My PhD project is looking at the evolutionary relationships of these early crocodiles,” explains Ewan.
“So we conducted a detailed anatomical description of this specimen, making comparisons to other early crocodiles to determine if it was another specimen of Terrestrisuchus or if it was something new.”
The team found 13 key differences between the fossils, significant enough to name the specimen an entirely new species.
It adds another piece to the growing diversity of animals living in this region during the Late Triassic. This period preceded the Triassic–Jurassic mass extinction event caused by an increase in volcanic activity altering the climate.
By documenting what animals were around before this event and how they responded to it, researchers can better understand how species react in the face of massive change and upheaval.
The new species has been described and named in the paper ‘A second species of non-crocodyliform crocodylomorph from the Late Triassic fissure deposits of southwestern UK: implications for locomotory ecological diversity in Saltoposuchidae’ published in the journal The Anatomical Record.