Duck-faced croc had a gap-toothed grin
By Sid Perkins
From Boston, at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Paleontologists have unearthed fossils of a tiny crocodile that boasted a smile like no other.
The 60-centimeter-long species lived about 110 million years ago in the rivers of what would become Africa, side by side with 12-meter-long cousins that ranked among the largest crocodilians ever (SN: 10/27/01, p. 260: Fossils Indicate. . .Wow, What a Croc!). It’s also interesting that the nostrils on the smaller animal’s blunt muzzle faced forward, says Paul C. Sereno, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago.