North Carolina State University researchers have identified a new species that might have been the top predator in North America before the dinosaurs. The Carnufex carolinensis has been nicknamed the 'Carolina Butcher'.
Lindsay Zanno and Susan Drymala co-authored the . Drymala says this Triassic ancestor of the crocodile lived at a time before mammals and reptiles split into different classes.
Credit Scientific Reports
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Scientific Reports
"If you saw it you would probably think it was a dinosaur right off the bat. 'Cause it was something that was pretty large, still reptilian looking, but would have stood upright. It had a pretty small forearm, so it's pretty likely that it walked on its back legs."
Fossils from this predator are on display in the labs at the in Raleigh.
