Dagasuchus

Dah-gah-soo-kus.
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Maeve Foster

Paleoclimatologist

Maeve Foster explores the Earth's climatic past to understand the forces that shaped life on our planet. Her research into ancient climate events provides valuable context for current environmental challenges.

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Name

Dagasuchus.

Phonetic

Dah-gah-soo-kus.

Named By

M.‭ ‬B.‭ ‬Lacerda,‭ ‬C.‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Schultz‭ & ‬C.‭ ‬Bertoni-Machado‭ ‬-‭ ‬2015.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Archosauria,‭ ‬Pseudosuchia,‭ ‬Suchia,‭ ‬Paracrocodylomorpha,‭ ‬Loricata.

Diet

Carnivore.

Species

D.‭ ‬santacruzensis‭

Size

Uncertain.

Known locations

Brazil‭ ‬-‭ ‬Santa Maria Formation.

Time Period

Mid Triassic.

Fossil representation

Partial hip.

In Depth

       While loricatan paracrocodylomorphs are fairly well known from the Santa maria Formation,‭ ‬Dagasuchus is the first rauisuchian genus known from the Santacruzodon assemblage zone,‭ ‬something which has enabled this genus to fill an evolutionary gap.‭ ‬So far Dagasuchus is only known from a partial hip which make reconstructions fairly difficult.‭ ‬However since the genus is related to genera such as Saurosuchus,‭ ‬Prestosuchus and Fasolasuchus,‭ ‬Dagasuchus was likely‭ ‬a large predator of other moderately large animals.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬First‭ ‘‬Rauisuchian‭’ ‬archosaur‭ (‬Pseudosuchia,‭ ‬Loricata‭) ‬for the Middle Triassic Santacruzodon Assemblage Zone‭ (‬Santa Maria Supersequence‭)‬,‭ ‬Rio Grande do Sul State,‭ ‬Brazil.‭ ‬-‭ ‬PLoS ONE‭ ‬10‭ (‬2‭)‬:‭ ‬e0118563.‭ ‬-‭ ‬M.‭ ‬B.‭ ‬Lacerda,‭ ‬C.‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Schultz‭ & ‬C.‭ ‬Bertoni-Machado‭ ‬-‭ ‬2015.

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