Polonosuchus

Polonosuchus
Temporal range: Late Triassic, 216–204 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Infraclass: Archosauromorpha
(unranked): Crurotarsi
Order: †Rauisuchia
Family: †Rauisuchidae
Genus: †Polonosuchus
Brusatte et al., 2009
Species

Polonosuchus is a genus of rauisuchian known from the late Triassic (Carnian age) of Poland. It was a huge predator about 5-6 metres in length and, like all rauisuchians, was equipped with a large head of long sharp teeth. The legs were placed almost underneath the body, unlike most reptiles. The appearance was very similar to that of the more known Postosuchus, of North America, and shared with the latter the ecological niche of the apex predator.[1]

Left maxilla
Silesaurus opolensis and Polonosuchus silesiacus models in Poland

It was described as Teratosaurus silesiacus in 2005 by Tomasz Sulej,[2] and was transferred to the genus Polonosuchus by Brusatte et al. in 2009.[3]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.myshowmywords.com/polonosuchus-silesiacus/
  2. ↑ Sulej, T. (2005). "A new rauisuchian reptile (Diapsida: Archosauria) from the Late Triassic of Poland." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 25(1):78-86.
  3. ↑ Brusatte, Stephen L.; Butler, Richard J.; Sulej, Tomasz; Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz (2009). "The taxonomy and anatomy of rauisuchian archosaurs from the Late Triassic of Germany and Poland". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 54 (2): 221–230. doi:10.4202/app.2008.0065.
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