Name: Laosuchus
(Laos crocodile).
Phonetic: Lh-ows-soo-ku.
Named By: Thomas Arbez, Christian A. Sidor
& J.-S�bastien Steyer - 2018.
Classification: Chordata, Reptiliomorpha,
Chroniosuchia.
Species: L. naga (type), L.
hun.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Skull about 26 centimetres long.
Known locations: Laos.
Time period: End of Permian/Early Triassic.
Fossil representation: Skull.
Laosuchus
is a genus of reptilomorph that lived in Asia about the time of the
Permian/Triassic boundary. Many minute canals have been found
running within areas of the skull, and in life these may have been
housing for receptors to allow Laosuchus to detect
other animals either
by heat or electrical impulses from their bodies. These receptors
could have been the primary means that Laosuchus
used to find prey.
Further reading
- Laosuchus naga gen. et sp. nov., a new
chroniosuchian from
South-East Asia (Laos) with internal structures revealed by
micro-CT scan and discussion of its palaeobiology. - Journal of
Systematic Palaeontology. 17 (14): 1165–1182. - Thomas
Arbez, Christian A. Sidor & J.-S�bastien Steyer -
2018.
- The tetrapod fauna of the upper Permian Naobaogou Formation of China:
7. Laosuchus hun sp. nov. (Chroniosuchia) and interrelationships of
chroniosuchians. - Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. - J. Liu
& J. Chen - 2021.