Decuriasuchus
Name:
Decuriasuchus
(Legion of ten crocodile).
Phonetic: De-cu-re-ah-su-kus.
Named By: M. A. G. Franca, J. Ferigolo
& M. C. Langer - 2011.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Paracrocodylomorpha, Loricata.
Species: D. quartacolonia
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Roughly up to about 2.5 meters long.
Known locations: Brazil - Santa Maria Formation.
Time period: Ladinian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Remains of ten individuals,
including three almost complete skulls and partial post cranial
skeletal remains.
Named in 2011, Decuriasuchus seems to have been like many predatory archosaurs in appearance, moderate in size, and capable of taking down similar sized animals. What has made palaeontologists sit up take notice however is that when Decuriasuchus was first found they didn’t find just one, but nine individuals buried together, with a tenth nearby. Even more startling is that they all appear to have died together at the same time and not over a period of months and years as would be expected if this were a predator trap. Further, no other fossils of other animals have been found, suggesting that they did not all come together to feed on a carcass. What Decuriasuchus represents is perhaps one of the earliest signs of gregarious behaviour in archosaurs
Further reading
- Associated skeletons of a new middle Triassic “Rauisuchia” from
Brazil. - Naturwissenschaften. - M. A. G. Franca, J.
Ferigolo & M. C. Langer - 2011.
- The skull anatomy of Decuriasuchus quartacolonia (Pseudosuchia:
Suchia: Loricata) from the middle Triassic of Brazil. - Geological
Society, London, Special Publications. 379 (1): 469–501 - Marco A. G.
De Fran�a, Max C. Langer & Jorge Ferigolo - 2013.
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