A Plant-Eating Croc? Newly Identified Species Demonstrates Crocodilian Versatility

A Plant-Eating Croc? Newly Identified Species Demonstrates Crocodilian Versatility

A Plant-Eating Croc? Newly Identified Species Demonstrates Crocodilian Versatility Illustration by Dane Johnson, Museum of the Rockies – released to the press Measuring no more than 2 feet long from nose to tail, a newly-described crocodilian nicknamed “Elton” likely lived its entire life on land where it lounged in the Cretaceous Montana sunshine, eating plants and insects. Elton was about the size of a big lizard, according to Montana State University professor of paleontology David Varricchio, whose former Ph.D. student Harrison Allen managed to spot the 1.9-inch-long skull of the animal on an excavation trip in 2021. Had it lived to be fully grown, Elton would have measured no longer than 3 feet, far smaller than most members of the crocodilian family known today or to have ever lived. Adapted to live on land, it probably ate both plants and insects or small animals with its assortment of differently shaped and specialized teeth. Its unique anatomy singles it out as belonging to a new,…