article_snippet: A fearsome nine-foot-long crocodile that hunted by running on Palaeontologists  hind legs was one of the world's top predators before the arrival of the dinosaurs.
article_snippet: Prehistoric crocodiles were able to run around like dogs to escape the jaws of predatory dinosaurs.
article_snippet: Today, most modern crocodiles live in freshwater habitats and feed on mammals and fish, but most modern crocodiles ancestors ran around on land like dogs while others adapted to life in the open ocean, imitating the behaviour of whales.
article_snippet: The study, by Bristol University, revealed how the jaws of the ancient crocodiles evolved to enable the fierce animals to survive in vastly different environments.
article_snippet: The study, by Bristol University examined variation in the shape and biomechanics function of the lower jaws in over 100 ancient crocodiles during the Mesozoic - a period which began 251 million years ago and covered over 170 million years.
article_snippet: The study, by Bristol University revealed that ancient crocodiles invaded the Jurassic seas and evolved jaws built primarily for water efficiency to capture agile prey, such as fish.
article_snippet: Sample of jaws from the Mesozoic crocodile record .
article_snippet: The study, by Bristol University also found that variation peaked again in the Cretaceous period- 142 million years ago - where ancient crocodiles evolved a great variety of lower jaw shapes as ancient crocodiles adapted to a diverse range of food.
article_snippet: The study, by Bristol University also found that variation peaked again in the Cretaceous period- 142 million years ago - where ancient crocodiles evolved a great variety of lower jaw shapes as ancient crocodiles adapted to a diverse range of food.
article_snippet: After the devastating end-Triassic extinction event, crocodile ancestors invaded the Jurassic seas and evolved jaws primarily built to efficiently swim in the water to catch agile prey such as fish.
article_snippet: crocodile ancestors also evolved a great variety of lower jaw shapes during the Cretaceous Period - about 145 million to 65 million years ago - as crocodile ancestors adapted to a diverse range of niches and environments alongside the dinosaurs, including eating plants.
article_snippet: Surprisingly, the lower jaws of Cretaceous crocodiles did not have a huge amount of variation.
article_snippet: Instead, the fossil record points towards novel adaptations in other areas of the lower jaws of Cretaceous crocodiles anatomy, such as armadillo-like body armour.
article_snippet: The smaller ancestors of modern crocodiles, which looked more like modern day foxes but without fur, managed to survive.
article_snippet: Modern crocodiles like the Nile Crocodile pictured above are the descendants of the smaller and lighter crocodylomorphs that survived the extinctions at the end of the Triassic period and the rise of the dinosaurs . '
article_snippet: If you want to picture these animals, just think of a modern day fox, but with alligator skin instead of fur.'