It has been revealed by a research that prehistoric crocodiles live during a period when dinosaurs dominated the world. The most interesting fact that the study came up with was they survived by running like dogs. Well, this sounds strange because in today's world, crocodiles are known to live in freshwater habitats and prey on mammals and fish.

The research suggested that some of them began to behave like dogs, whereas others adapted to life in the open ocean. They actually started to prey on what today's killer whales do. The research unveiled that the fierce jaws of reptiles evolved 235 to 65 million years ago to enable them survive in waters.

Tom Stubbs and Dr. Emily Rayfield from the University of Bristol conducted the study, along with Dr. Stephanie Pierce from The Royal Veterinary College and Dr. Phil Anderson from Duke University in the United States.

"They were very different creatures to the ones we are familiar with today, much more diverse and, as this research shows, their ability to adapt was quite remarkable", Mr. Stubbs said.

The researchers drew conclusions after studying variation in the morphology (shape) and biomechanics (function) of the lower jaws in over 100 ancient crocodiles. They used a unique combination of numerical methods to derive results.