In Depth
Nundasuchus is a genus of archosaurian predator that lived in Tanzania during the mid Triassic. Nundasuchus superficially resembles a rauisuchian, however the exact phylogenetic position of Nundasuchus is still uncertain at the time of writing. Currently most prefer to consider it a member of the Pseudosuchia, the same group that also includes the rauisuchians.
Nundasuchus lived at a point in the Triassic that was the golden age for large archosaurian predators, and like other similar animals was probably an ambush predator of relatively slow moving herbivores such as dicynodonts. At this time the immediate ancestors of the dinosaurs were already roaming the land, and developing into more and more advanced forms as the Triassic moved on. By the end of the Triassic, archosaurs like Nundasuchus and related genera were largely replaced by the Dinosaurs as top predators on land.
Further Reading
- A new archosaur from the Manda beds (Anisian, Middle Triassic) of southern Tanzania and its implications for character state optimizations at Archosauria and Pseudosuchia. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34 (6): 1357–1382. - Sterling J. Nesbitt, Christian A. Sidor, Kenneth D. Angielczyk, Roger M. H. Smith & Linda A. Tsuji - 2014.
