PALAEONTOLOGY[online]

Tag: Mark T. Young

Mark Young is a postdoctoral researcher at the School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, UK. He specializes in the taxonomy, biomechanics, anatomy and phylogeny of crocodylomorphs and marine reptiles. His current work is focused on the land-to-sea transition of thalattosuchians — examining their palaeoneuroanatomy and sensory systems. Two additional active research areas are the crocodylomorph SuperMatrix Project and the fossils of Scotland.

Contact Details:

Dr. Mark T. Young, Grant Institute, School of Geosciences, The King’s Buildings, University of Edinburgh, James Hutton Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FE, UK.

by Mark T. Young*1, Sven Sachs2 & Pascal Abel3 Introduction: To most people, crocodilians are large-bodied carnivores that have been unchanged since the age of the dinosaurs. However, during their 230 million-year history, modern crocodilians and their extinct relatives evolved a stunning diversity of body plans, with many looking very different from those alive today (crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gharials). The first crocodylomorphs (the term used for living crocs and various fossil groups) are known from the Late Triassic Period, approximately 235 million to 237 million years ago. These animals lived on land and looked much more like a greyhound than a crocodile, with long legs and a skull that was deep like that of a meat-eating dinosaur, rather than flattened like that ...