A new species of prehistoric dinosaur has been described based on discoveries in Rhineland-Palatinate. Remains of the species called Stenokranio boldi were recovered several years ago and a research team has now presented the results of the investigation. According to the Journal of Paleontology, S. boldi was one of the largest predators in the region when it was alive, almost 300 million years ago. The animal was estimated to be one and a half meters long.
The habitat at that time should be imagined as a tropical landscape of rivers and lakes, as announced by the Natural History Museum in Berlin, which was involved in the study. “In the area of today's Remigiusberg, a large river flowed into a lake about 70 kilometers long.” Animals lived on its banks and in the river delta.
“On the palate, Stenokranio had three pairs of large, backward-curved tusks that were used to grip slippery prey such as fish,” the museum explained. The prey was probably swallowed more or less completely. In terms of body shape and lifestyle, fish and carnivores occupied an ecological niche similar to that of later crocodiles.
The term primordial dinosaur has nothing to do with dinosaurs, as has been said. It is a popular collective name for quadrupeds from ancient times.