Postosuchus
Postosuchus kirkpatricki
Postosuchus represents the large crocodile-line archosaurs that dominated terrestrial environments before the Jurassic extinction.
Image: Dallas Krentzel · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Sites on today's globe · 1 marker
Characteristics
- Scientific name
- Postosuchus kirkpatricki
- Period
- Late Triassic (Carnian)
- Lived
- 228–220 Ma (228 million years ago)
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Habitat
- Plains, Forest
- Length (estimate)
- 5 m
- Mass (estimate)
- 300 kg
Description
Postosuchus was a large pseudosuchian archosaur with a deep skull, strong legs and a long tail. It probably carried most of its weight on four limbs, although different postures have been proposed. Its teeth and body structure indicate a predator capable of attacking other reptiles and early dinosaurs. Pseudosuchians were important predators in many Triassic ecosystems alongside the emerging dinosaurs.
Habitat
Warm floodplains and wooded riverbanks.
Fossil sites
Post Quarry, Texas
Dockum Group
Cultural profile: United States →
Contemporaries in the database
Sources: Postosuchus