Jeanna Bryner LiveScience Staff Writer LiveScience.comWed Mar
21, 4:30 PM ET The fossil of an ancient amphibious reptile with
a crocodile's body and a fish's tail has been unearthed in
Oregon. Scientists believe the creature's remains were
transported by geologic processes nearly 5,000 miles away from
where it originally died more than 100 million years ago. The
new fossil is the oldest crocodilian ever unearthed in Oregon
and one of the few to be unearthed on this side of the Pacific.
The “hybrid” animal is thought to be a new species within the
genus Thalattosuchia, a group of crocodilians living during the
age of dinosaurs. The reptile roamed a tropical environment in
Asia about 142 to 208 million years ago. Called a
Thalattosuchian, the amphibious creature [image] represents an
early milestone in evolutionary history, marking a transition
during which these reptiles moved from being semi-aquatic to
wholly ocean species.