Some 230 million years ago, giant reptiles walked the Earth. Some were large and fearsome predators; others were nimble and fleet-footed runners; and yet others were heavily armoured with bony plates running down their backs. Their bodies had evolved into an extraordinary range of shapes and sizes and they had done so at a breakneck pace. They were truly some of the most impressive animals of their time. They were the crurotarsans.

Wait… the who and what now? Chances are you’ve never heard of the crurotarsans and you were expecting that other, more famous group of giant reptiles – the dinosaurs. There is certainly no doubt that the dinosaurs were an evolutionary success story, diversifying from a standard body plan –