Armadillosuchus
Name:
Armadillosuchus
(Armadillo crocodile).
Phonetic: Ar-mah-dil-loe-soo-kus.
Named By: Marinho and Carvalho - 2009.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Crocodylomorpha, Notosuchia, Ziphosuchia.
Species: A. arrudai (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Around 2 meters long.
Known locations: Brazil, Bauru Basin.
Time period: Turonian to Santonian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Almost complete individual.
Armadillosuchus
is but one of many bizarre crocodiles from the Cretaceous period, but
what makes this genus different are the armadillo-like plates in the
form of flexible bands and rigid plates that run down the length of its
body (hence the meaning of the genus name). Armadillosuchus
is
widely believed to have been a terrestrial crocodile, which means
that it left the water for extended periods to actively live on land.
Ideas from this come from analysis of the fossil site which back
during the Cretaceous was thought to have had a very dry hot climate
with seasonal rainfall as well as the legs which are better suited to
walking than other more aquatic forms.
Another
interesting feature is the lower jaw which can slide forwards and
backwards, a degree of motion virtually unheard of in other crocodile
forms which are usually only capable of opening and closing. Although
only speculation, this movement may have enabled to use a sawing
motion with its jaws in a particular feeding the style. The jaws also
narrow quite significantly rather than being broad like in many other
forms. Again this might have been for a specific feeding adaptation.
Further reading
- An armadillo-like sphagesaurid crocodyliform from the Late Cretaceous
of Brazil. - Journal of South American Earth Sciences 27(1):36-41. - T.
S. Marinho & I. D. S. Carvalho - 2009.
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