Erythrosuchus
Name:
Erythrosuchus
(Red crocodile).
Phonetic: Eh-rith-roe-soo-kuss.
Named By: Robert Broom - 1905.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Archosauriformes, Erythrosuchidae.
Species: E. africanus (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: 5 meters long. Skull up to one meter long.
Known locations: Locations: South Africa.
Time period: Early Triassic.
Fossil representation: Several specimens.
The
large size of Erythrosuchus meant that it was an
apex predator capable
of tackling large herbivores such as Kannemeyeria
and Lystrosaurus
that
were active in at the same time and location. Erythrosuchus
was
probably a relatively slow moving predator, although given the types
of large prey available, speed would not have been necessary for
capture. The proportionately large jaws contained sharp conical
teeth, perfect for delivering large and crippling bites.
The
ankles of Erythrosuchus show a development towards
a digitigrade method of
walking, essentially balancing the body on the toes rather than the
whole foot. This makes Erythrosuchus similar to
the more
well-known
Euparkeria
even though there is a massive size difference between these
two thecodonts.
Further reading
- Notice of some new fossil reptiles from the Karroo Beds of South
Africa. - Records of the Albany Museum 1(5):331-337.- Robert Broom -
1905.
- �ber Erythrosuchus, vertreter der neuen
reptil-ordnung Pelycosimia. -
Geologische und Pal�ontologische Abhandlungen, N.F. 10: 67–122. - F.
von Huene - 1911.
- The pes of Erythrosuchus africanus Broom. - Zoological Journal of the
Linnean Society 62 (2): 161–177. - A. R. I. Cruickshank - 1978.
- Phylogeny of the Erythrosuchidae. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 12 (1): 93–102. - J. M. Parrish - 1992.
- The braincase of the early archosaurian reptile Erythrosuchus
africanus. - Journal of Zoology 242 (3): 557–576. - D. J.
Gower - 1997.
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