230 million-year-old bizarre-beaked reptile was a relative of modern-day crocodiles

An artist's interpretation of Beesiiwo cooowuse, a newfound genus and species of rhynchosaur. In the background is Heptasuchus clarki, another Triassic beast that lived in the region. (Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto)

During the late Triassic period roughly 230 million years ago, a squat reptile with a beak-like mouth lived in what is now Wyoming.

Paleontologists identified the remains of the herbivorous reptile, which is a stem, or early archosaur and therefore a distant relative of modern-day birds and crocodiles, as a new genus and species of rhynchosaur, a group of plant eaters defined by their parrot-like beaks. The team described the newly identified species, which they dubbed Beesiiwo cooowuse, in a study published April 10 in the journal Diversity.