Skin and color pattern of 125-million-year-old crocodile revealed by extraordinary fossil from the Pyrenees

A new study published in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society describes, for the first time in detail, the soft tissues preserved in Montsecosuchus depereti, a Lower Cretaceous crocodylomorph from the Pedrera de Meià site in the province of Lleida (Catalonia, Spain).

The analysis, based on ultraviolet light, provides new clues to the coloration of these animals, as well as the evolution of the respiratory system.

The research was led by the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont. ...