In Depth
Redondavenator is a genus of sphenosuchid crocodylomorph that lived in the USA during the later stages of the Triassic. Only the anterior (forward) portion of the skull is known, though estimates of the complete skull result in a reconstructed length of at least sixty centimetres, and when combined with the post cranial remains, result in a total estimated length of just under four meters. Redondavenator would have been a predator of other relatively large animals, with speculation that the genus may have evolved to fill an ecological niche left vacant by rauisuchians, and not yet filled by dinosaurs.
Care should be taken not to confuse Redondavenator with Redondasaurus, a large phytosaur that is also named after the Redonda Formation like Redondavenator also is.
Further Reading
- A giant crocodylomorph from the Upper Triassic of New Mexico. - Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 79:471-478. - S. J. Nesbitt, R. B. Irmis, S. G. Lucas & A. P. Hunt - 2005.
