New Jurassic crocodile species had unusually slender teeth, suggesting it fed on shrimp and tiny fish

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Add to Preferred Sources An artist’s restoration of Ctenosuchus tenuidens. Credit: Artwork by Nathan Dehaut. A new species of ancient crocodile relative that lived around 170 million years ago has been discovered by scientists at the University of Portsmouth and Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco.

Unlike most crocodiles, this animal had a long, narrow snout filled with exceptionally thin, needlelike teeth. The teeth were so slender that they are unlike those of any known close relative.

The animal, named Ctenosuchus tenuidens, belonged to a group of marine and freshwater reptiles known as thalattosuchians, which lived during the age of the dinosaurs.