In Depth Saltoposuchus was not like todays crocodiles, in fact it was more like a small theropod dinosaur. The hind legs were long which meant that fast running speeds were theoretically possible, though the fore limbs may have still served a weight bearing function, perhaps when at rest. The teeth in the mouth were small … Read more
In Depth Scutarx is a genus of aetosaur that lived in North America during the late Triassic. Further Reading - Osteology of the Late Triassic aetosaur Scutarx deltatylus (Archosauria: Pseudosuchia). - PeerJ - William G. Parker - 2016. - Revised phylogenetic analysis of the Aetosauria (Archosauria: Pseudosuchia); assessing the effects of incongruent morphological character sets. … Read more
In Depth Sail-backed rauisuchian archosaurs are not especially well known, but they do seem to have existed in reasonably high numbers, although it is also important not to confuse them with the earlier sail-backed pelycosaurs of the Permian such as Dimetrodon and Edaphosaurus. Upon is initial discovery and description, Lotosaurus was thought to have been … Read more
In Depth Holotype fossils of Vivaron were first discovered in 2009, however they were at first thought to represent further remains of the famous Postosuchus. The addition of two prong-like projections to the rear of the maxilla which connect to the jugal have actually revealed that these fossils do not belong to Postosuchus, but a … Read more
In Depth Riojasuchus is a genus of ornithosuchid pseudosuchian that lived during the late Triassic. At the time of writing the Ornithosuchidae is a small group of pseudosuchian archosaurs that aside from Riojasuchus, only contains Ornithosuchus and Venaticosuchus. Further Reading - Dos nuevas “faunas” de reptiles triasicos de Argentina [Two new reptilian “faunas” of … Read more
In Depth Rutiodon was one of the earliest known phytosaurs, and to this day is one that is usually illustrated as an example of the group. Like with the other phytosaurs, Rutiodon had an incredible similarity to today’s crocodiles, something that still to this day causes some to incorrectly call phytosaurs ancient crocodiles. In actuality … Read more
In Depth Although the last part of the name, suchus, translates to English as crocodile, Ornithosuchus was actually an archosaur. These were the dominant reptiles of the Triassic some of which would diverge into true crocodiles, while others would take different paths to evolve into the dinosaurs. In fact the long hind legs that would … Read more
In Depth Ctenosauriscus is the type specimen of the Ctenosauriscidae, a group of sail backed rauisuchian archosaurs that also include others such as Arizonasaurus. Ctenosauriscidae however is only known from post cranial remains that reveal it had a large sail on its back. Like in related reptiles, this sail was supported by the enlarged neural … Read more
In Depth Gracilisuchus is a very Ancient, and very small relative of the crocodiles that we know today. Gracilisuchus however seems to have been mostly terrestrial walking about on four legs, but also having the ability to rear up and walk on just the two rear legs. The small size and gracile (hence the name) … Read more
In Depth A lot of painstaking work was undertaken by palaeontologists rebuilding this animal, and when they done they found out that they had the first ornithosuchian known from Brazil. Like relative genera, Dynamosuchus had a hooked notch in its upper jaw between the premaxilla and maxilla (the two tooth bearing bones of the upper … Read more