Saurosuchus

Name meaning:

Name meaning: “Lizard-crocodile,” from the Greek sauros (“lizard”) and suchus (“crocodile”).

Period of life:

231.7–225 million years ago

Period:

Triassic period

Habitat:

Floodplains

Taxonomy:

Archosaurs

Countries:

Triassic period Saurosuchus | 3D Dinopedia

Hesperosuchus

Diplodocus

Saurosuchus (231.7–225 million years ago)

Saurosuchus is an extinct genus of large pseudosuchian archosaurs that lived in South America during the Late Triassic. It was a heavy, fully terrestrial quadruped and the undisputed apex predator of the Ischigualasto Formation ecosystem.

Saurosuchus was among the largest predators of its time, reaching between 5.5 and 7.5 meters in length and weighing an estimated 500–600 kg or more. Its body was covered with rows of bony plates—osteoderms—that served as armor and reinforced its spine. The skull was massive and laterally compressed, and its jaws bore large, backward-curving, serrated teeth. Its powerful neck was composed of short, robust vertebrae adapted for forceful, downward strikes of the head.

Saurosuchus hunted large herbivores such as the dicynodont Ischigualastia and various rhynchosaurs. Contrary to outdated assumptions, its jaws were formidable weapons: although not built to crush bone like those of later tyrannosaurs, the structure of its skull enabled devastating slicing bites that could cause severe blood loss and shock in prey.

Studies of its braincase show that smell played a major role in its behavior—it possessed enormous olfactory bulbs. The structure of its inner ear also indicates excellent hearing, especially in low frequencies.

The habitat of Saurosuchus consisted of river floodplains with strong seasonal rains.

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