A primitive crocodile that roamed the prehistoric seas around 150 million years ago has been unearthed by scientists.
The new species had a tail fin and paddle-like limbs for life in the oceans.
This discovery sheds fresh light on reptiles' family tree.
It is the ancestor of today's crocodiles but looked more like a dolphin because it had no scales. It was unearthed in Germany.
The creature's slender body made it even more agile underwater, enabling it to feed on fast moving prey such as squid and small fish in shallow seas and lagoons.
Its remarkably well-preserved skeleton was discovered in a quarry near Bamberg in Bavaria.
Named Cricosaurus bambergensis after the town, it is now housed in the Natural History Museum.
Thug holds knife to 15-year-old KFC worker's throat to demand cash and chicken
During the Jurassic era, Europe was a collection of islands.
Much of what is now dry land was covered by shallow seas, salty lagoons, freshwater lakes and marshes.
Only a few areas, such as present-day Scotland, France and Spain, lay above the water.
These subtropical islands were low lying and dry with low shrubs and other desert vegetation.
Study co-author Dr Mark Young, of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, said: "The rock formations of southern Germany continue to give us fresh insights into the age of dinosaurs.
Man arrested after two children 'hacked to death' outside primary school
"These rock layers were deposited at a time when Europe was covered by a shallow sea, with countries such as Germany and the UK being a collection of islands."
The conditions did not suit many dinosaurs, tending to favour very small ones, such as Compsognathus, which could survive on insects and small lizards.
This habitat was home for another small reptile, one famously described both as a dinosaur and a bird - known as Archaeopteryx.
Dr Young and colleagues compared C. bambergensis with fossils from other museum collections and confirmed it was a previously unknown animal.
Related species have been dug up in Mexico and Argentina.
The skeleton has several distinguishing features in its jaws, the roof of its mouth and tail, some of which are completely unique.
