Colorado fossils of Mandrasuchus milleri are placed among the oldest known members of the subfamily containing living alligators. The aquatic reptile was about 2 meters long and lived early after the dinosaur mass extinction. The newly described species adds an older branch to the history of North American alligator relatives; it is not the same species as modern alligators.
Fossils from Corral Bluffs in Colorado belong to a newly described aquatic reptile named Mandrasuchus milleri. About 2 meters long, it is placed in Alligatorinae, the subfamily that also contains living alligators. The classification puts it among the oldest known alligator relatives. Its name identifies a separate early branch of that group rather than the same animal as a modern alligator.[1], [2]
The animal had pointed teeth toward the front of its mouth and rounder, molar-like teeth at the back. The rear teeth were suited to crushing hard-shelled prey, part of the anatomy described for this aquatic reptile. Some fossils remained articulated, meaning their bones had not become entirely separated. The remains preserve aspects of the newly named animal's body and way of life.[1]
The oldest skulls date to about 350,000 years after the end-Cretaceous asteroid impact 66 million years ago. The species therefore belongs to animal communities from early after the dinosaur mass extinction. Its description adds a new example to the history of North American alligator relatives. Published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, the account places the Colorado fossils in that early history rather than describing a living species.[1]
