Temporal range: Ladinian, Middle Triassic, 242–237 Ma
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Reconstructed skeleton, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Reptilia
Clade:
Archosauria
Clade:
Pseudosuchia
Clade:
Loricata
Genus:
†Batrachotomus Gower, 1999
Species:
†B. kupferzellensis
Binomial name
†Batrachotomus kupferzellensis
Gower, 1999
Batrachotomus/ˌbætrəˈkɒtoʊməs/ is a genus of prehistoric archosaur. Fossils of this animal have been found in southern Germany and dated from the Ladinian stage of the Middle Triassic period, around 242 to 237 million years ago. Batrachotomus was described by palaeontologist David J. Gower 22 years after its discovery.
The locality where Batrachotomus lived was a swampy region and the name comes from the Greek batrachos/βάτραχος (frog) and tome/τομή (cutting, slicing), which refers to its preying on the large amphibian Mastodonsaurus.[1] In contrast with sprawling reptiles, like crocodiles, this large carnivore was very agile with locomotor superiority due to its erect stance. A remarkable feature seen on its back was a row of paired, flattened bony plates. Batrachotomus was possibly an early relative of Postosuchus,[2] which lived during the dawn of the dinosaurs.
million years ago. Batrachotomus was described by palaeontologist David J. Gower 22 years after its discovery. The locality where Batrachotomus lived was a swampy...
Kupferzell rauisuchid" (later called Batrachotomus) within the Rauisuchidae. However, a later study found that Batrachotomus was a more basal pseudosuchian...
only seen in P. chiniquensis, P. nyassicus, and Batrachotomus among loricatans. However, Batrachotomus's crest smoothly transitions from the base of the...
further discoveries and studies, such as a study on the braincase of Batrachotomus (2002) and restudies of other forms, such as Erpetosuchus (2002) have...
marks on Mastodonsaurus bones show that the large terrestrial archosaur Batrachotomus actively preyed on the giant amphibians, entering the water or attacking...
the earliest poposauroids (Qianosuchus, for example) and loricatans (Batrachotomus) retained wide calcaneal tubers. Some suchians have a shallow longitudinal...
hypothesized by Parrish. They claimed that "rauisuchians" such as Postosuchus, Batrachotomus, and Saurosuchus were closer to crocodylians than Poposaurus was. They...
Suchian Archosaurs (Reptilia: Diapsida): Evidence from the Rauisuchian Batrachotomus kupferzellensis". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 136 (1):...
maxilla. Arganasuchus also had several anatomical details in common with Batrachotomus, Fasolasuchus, and Postosuchus, though its relations with other loricatans...
non-dinosaur archosauromorphs. These include several pseudosuchians (Batrachotomus, Revueltosaurus, Xilousuchus, Effigia, Hesperosuchus), basal avemetatarsalians...
smaller in size than other basal loricatans such as Teratosaurus and Batrachotomus. A phylogenetic analysis performed by Sues & Schoch (2013) found Apatosuchus...
spines have this feature only weakly developed. This applies to both Batrachotomus and Stagonosuchus (which are considered rauisuchids by Sennikov), in...
Italy, which was about 2.5 meters in length. The huge (6 meters long) Batrachotomus from the latest Middle Triassic (Late Ladinian) of Germany, and Prestosuchus...
the rear. Isolated cervical neural spines were similar to those of Batrachotomus, being expanded towards their upper front tips into heart-shaped structures...
part of the maxilla suggests they were large in size, comparable to Batrachotomus. The contact between the premaxilla and maxilla is marked by a slight...