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Meet an adorable ancient crocodile that had dental problems and a taste for mollusks

Meet an adorable ancient crocodile that had dental problems and a taste for mollusks

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An international research team of paleontologists has identified two new species of crocodiles that once lived in the Amazon during the Middle-Late Miocene epoch, over 5 million years ago. One of the newly discovered crocodiles has mammal-like gaps between its rounded teeth, used for crushing instead of gnashing. Pictured below, the Gnatusuchus pebasensis is an ancient crocodile with an adorable smile that's no less in need of braces.

The paper, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, reports the discovery of a "highly diverse and endemic" community of crocodiles with the blunt-nosed croc at its center. It posits that G. pebasensis' shovel-shaped mandible adapted to scoop mollusks from the Amazonian lake bottoms. Look at that face! I just want to brush its little teeth!

Crocodile