Nicrosaurus
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| Nicrosaurus Fossil range: Late Triassic |
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 Nicrosaurus skull, from Zittel, 1913
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Fossil
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Nicrosaurus is an extinct genus of phytosaur reptile. Although it looked and probably lived like a crocodile, it was not closely related to these creatures, instead being a good example of parallel evolution. The main difference between Nicrosaurus (and all other phytosaurs) and real crocodiles was the position of the nostrils - Nicrosaurus's nostrils were placed directly in front of the forehead, whereas in crocodiles, the nostrils are positioned on the end of the snout.
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