# croctober fossils fossilfriday aetosaur triassic stemcroctober phytosaurs paleoart

V is for Venaticosuchus, a very distant croc-relative from the Triassic of Argentina. It has an unusual overhanging upper jaw.

📸 von Baczko et al., 2014: https://t.co/XJiROqaTph

3 9
2021-10-26

Yay N is for Neoaetosauroides, an from the L of Argentina. Recently Taborda et al. used FEA to support possible zoophagy/omnivory, previously proposed by Desojo, & by von Backzo et al. https://t.co/6YtiXhaL55

8 23
2021-10-23

Today’s is Mystriosuchus Fraas 1896. These including M. westphali & M. planirostris, have a looooong slender snout & short squamosals. A 3rd one, M. steinbergeri, was added in 2019. It's from Austria & was marine!

7 31
2021-10-19

O is for Ornithosuchus, a distant croc-relative from the Triassic of Scotland. It may have been a facultative biped, meaning it could walk on two legs, but it could also walk on all fours.

📸 von Baczko and Ezcurra, 2016: https://t.co/eveQa8XJbX

5 13
2021-10-19

N is for Notosuchus, a terrestrial crocodyliform with heterodont dentition from the Cretaceous of Argentina. It’s possible this croc was omnivorous or maybe even herbivorous.

📸 Barrios et al., 2018: https://t.co/dC3ZLsdixD

4 16
2021-10-16

Today’s is Poposaurus gracilis Mehl 1915 from the Upper Triassic of the western US. Poposaurus has a remarkably similar body plan to dinosaurs, yet has hallmarks of all pseudosuchians. We know almost the full anatomy, minus parts of the skull

25 93
2020-10-20

Pakasuchus had molar-like teeth that fit together to allow real chewing. It’s one of the most heterodont of the weird-toothed notosuchians, suggesting it might have been herbivorous.

📸 O’Connor et al, 2010: https://t.co/rtNedrq2XD

4 6
2020-10-16

Today’s is Nundasuchus songeaensis Nesbitt et al. 2014 a pseudosuchian from the Manda Beds of Tanzania. The phylogenetic position is poorly constrained, but largely because it lacks characters of the ‘classic’ pseudosuchian clades

13 40
2020-10-16

Ogresuchus’ name comes from the speculation that it might have been eating young titanosaurs in the nesting ground where it was discovered, like the baby-eating ogres of legend.

📸 Sellés et al, 2020: https://t.co/mXkUXALJJQ

1 6
2020-10-15

Today’s is Desmatosuchus spurensis Case 1921, an aetosaur from the southwest. It was a one of the largest with shoulders spikes measuring ~50 cm. The diet is his unknown, but it could have been the largest herbivore of NA in the L Triassic

36 107
2020-10-06

Fasalosuchus was one of the biggest rauisuchians (maybe the biggest), at 8-10 meters long. It’s H in this figure, check out the scale bars to get an idea of the size difference.

📸 et al 2013: https://t.co/EqfrGZwkMQ

3 9
2020-10-06

F is for Fasolasuchus (B in this pic), a very distant croc-relative from the Triassic of Argentina. It’s in a messy part of the tree we sometimes lump together and call “Rauisuchians.”

📸 Lessner et al 2016: https://t.co/3k8BveHwLn

6 12
2020-10-06

C is for Caipirasuchus, a crocodyliform from the Cretaceous of Brazil with particularly weird teeth. Most crocs are homodont (all their teeth look kind of the same), but Caipirasuchus is heterodont.

📸 et al 2014: https://t.co/3aU3GapYAA

7 15
2020-10-04

A is for Aegisuchus, a surfboard headed crocodyliform from the Cretaceous of Morocco with unusual ornamentation on the top of its head.

📸 by Henry Tsai in and Gardner 2012: https://t.co/gWGZiVoC9u

5 22
2020-10-01