Ticinosuchus

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Ticinosuchus
Copy of the rock slab with the type specimen of Ticinosuchus ferox

Copy of the rock slab with the type specimen of Ticinosuchus ferox

Temporal occurrence
Middle Triassic (Upper Anisium )
approx. 240 million years
Locations
Systematics
Diapsida
Archosauromorpha
Archosauria
Pseudosuchia
Suchia
Ticinosuchus
Scientific name
Ticinosuchus
Cancer , 1965
Art
  • Ticinosuchus ferox K REBS , 1965

Ticinosuchus is a genus of extinct archosaurs and belongs to the line of development that leads to the modern crocodiles (→  Crurotarsi ). Its fossil remains are known from the Middle Triassic of the Alps .

The only species in the genus is Ticinosuchus ferox . Your holotype was discovered in the so-called "border bitumen zone", a horizon of the upper anisium of Monte San Giorgio in Ticino , Switzerland , and was first scientifically described by Bernard Krebs in 1965 . It is a complete and largely coherent but relatively heavily crushed skeleton, which made the determination difficult.

Surname

The name Ticinosuchus is made up of the Italian word Ticino , which denotes the Ticino river and the Swiss canton of the same name , and the Greek word σοῦχος ( souchos ) for crocodile .

features

Drawing living reconstruction of Ticinosuchus

Ticinosuchus was about 2.5 meters long and its physique had some similarities with today's crocodiles. His back was covered with small plates of bone along the spine . The skull is arrow-shaped. The construction of the pool shows that, unlike the crocodiles, his legs were almost vertical under the body, which probably made him a fast runner.

The formation of its teeth as well as bone finds in the body cavity indicate that Ticinosuchus was very likely a carnivore and ate fish, among other things. Due to the locations in marine sediments (marine deposits) of the European Tethys , its habitat must have included the southern coast of Europe at that time.

Others

Ticinosuchus is considered to be one of the possible causes of the well-known trace fossil Chirotherium .

literature

  • Bernard Krebs, 1965. Ticinosuchus ferox nov. gen. nov. sp. A new pseudosuchier from the triad of Monte San Giorgio. Swiss Palaontological Treatises 81: 1-140.
  • WD Sill, 1974. The anatomy of Saurosuchus galilei and the relationships of the rauisuchid thecodonts. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 146: 317-362.
  • Stephan Lautenschlager, Julia Brenda Desojo, 2011. Reassessment of the Middle Triassic rauisuchian archosaurs Ticinosuchus ferox and Stagonosuchus nyassicus . Paleontological Journal 85: 357-381

Web links

Commons : Ticinosuchus  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Stephan Lautenschlager, Julia Brenda Desojo: Reassessment of the Middle Triassic rauisuchian archosaurs Ticinosuchus ferox and Stagonosuchus nyassicus . In: Paleontological Journal . 85, 2011, pp. 357-381. doi : 10.1007 / s12542-011-0105-1 .
  2. ^ A b Sterling J. Nesbitt: The Early Evolution of Archosaurs: Relationships and the Origin of Major Clades . In: Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History . 352, 2011, pp. 1-292. doi : 10.1206 / 352.1 .
  3. ↑ Ticinosuchus on Wissenschaft-online.de
  4. ↑ Palmer, D. (Ed.): The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals . Marshall Editions, London 1999, ISBN 1-84028-152-9 , p. 95.
  5. ↑ Hartmut Haubold: Die Saurierfährten Chirotherium barthii Kaup, 1835 - the type material from the red sandstone near Hildburghausen / Thuringia and the "Chirotherium Monument". Publications of the Natural History Museum Schleusingen. 21, 2006, pp. 3-31