China News Agency, Hefei, March 14 (Reporter Wu Lan) The reporter learned from Hefei University of Technology on the 14th that Dr. Masaya Iijima and Professor Liu Jun, paleontologists from the School of Resources and Environmental Engineering of the school, were discussing the collections in the Guangdong Xinhui Museum and the Guangdong Xinhui Museum. In the research of crocodile specimens in Shunde Museum, a new species of prehistoric crocodile, the Chinese Hanyu crocodile, was discovered.

　　The results were recently published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

According to reports, the study resolves the controversy over the classification of crocodiles by molecular biologists and morphologists, and provides strong evidence for the extinction of prehistoric crocodiles caused by human activities.

　　In the Lingnan area of ​​China, some giant prehistoric crocodiles once lived.

These crocodiles were more than 6 meters long and were the top predators in the ecological environment at that time.

In the 9th century AD, there was a "crocodile infestation" in the Hanjiang River basin of Lingnan.

According to historical records, Han Yu, a famous writer in the Tang Dynasty, tried to warn the crocodile when he was demoted to Chaozhou. He threw the pig and sheep into the evil stream (now Hanjiang) and ordered the crocodile to leave, otherwise he would be executed. He wrote the famous prose "The Crocodile". Arts".

　　According to reports, the new species of prehistoric crocodiles discovered this time may belong to the same species as the protagonist of "infestation and harm" described in "Crocodile Literature".

The researchers named the new species after Han Yu: Chinese Hanyu crocodile.

　　Two of the crocodile specimens studied by the research team have traces of human slashing on their bones.

The C14 dating results show that it was killed between the 14th century BC and the 10th century BC, thus confirming that humans are responsible for the extinction of the Chinese Hanyu crocodile.

　　Liu Jun said: "As top predators, crocodiles play a key role in maintaining the balance of freshwater ecosystems. The extinction of Sino-Korean crocodiles has sounded another wake-up call for modern humans."

　　According to reports, the Chinese Hanyu crocodile is a species of alligator family.

At the same time, pterygoid vesicles and nasal vegetations were also found on the skull of Sino-Korean crocodile. These two special structures only appear in adult male crocodiles in living crocodiles.

Therefore, the pterygium and nasal vegetations displayed on the skulls of male Chinese korean crocodiles have obvious evolutionary advantages in sexual selection.

　　Dr. Masaya Iijima and Prof. Liu Jun have found crocodile remains in many archaeological sites in China. The crocodile remains found in these archaeological sites were previously regarded as Chinese alligators, but the current Chinese alligators live only in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in southern China. .

Today, the discovery of the Chinese crocodile has challenged this view.

　　Liu Jun believes that, as the only giant reptile that can "eat people" in ancient China, the Chinese Hanyu crocodile may have left some marks on ancient Chinese civilization.

The legends about dragons in some ancient books may also have been influenced by the Sino-Korean crocodile.

　　At present, the research team is conducting further exploration around this new discovery.

Some soft tissues are preserved in the fossils of Sino-Korean crocodile, which means that ancient DNA material is expected to be extracted from it, so as to describe a more accurate evolutionary history of crocodiles.

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