Skeleton at the Museum of Texas Tech University, near Post, Texas
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Reptilia
Clade:
Archosauria
Clade:
Pseudosuchia
Family:
†Rauisuchidae
Genus:
†Postosuchus Chatterjee, 1985
Type species
†Postosuchus kirkpatricki
Chatterjee, 1985
Species
†P. kirkpatricki Chatterjee, 1985
†P. alisonae Peyer et al., 2008
Postosuchus, meaning "Crocodile from Post", is an extinct genus of rauisuchid reptiles comprising two species, P. kirkpatricki and P. alisonae, that lived in what is now North America during the Late Triassic. Postosuchus is a member of the clade Pseudosuchia, the lineage of archosaurs that includes modern crocodilians (the other main group of archosaurs is Avemetatarsalia, the lineage that includes all archosaurs more closely related to birds than to crocodilians). Its name refers to Post Quarry, a place in Texas where many fossils of the type species, P. kirkpatricki, were found. It was one of the apex predators of its area during the Triassic, larger than the small dinosaur predators of its time (such as Coelophysis). It was a hunter which probably preyed on large bulky herbivores like dicynodonts and many other creatures smaller than itself (such as early dinosaurs).[1]
The skeleton of Postosuchus is large and robust with a deep skull and a long tail. It was a large animal up to 5–6 m (16–20 ft) long or even more.[2][3] The extreme shortness of the forelimbs relative to the hind limbs, the very small hands, and measurements of the vertebrae suggest that Postosuchus may have been committed to bipedal locomotion.[3]
^Walking with Dinosaurs: The Evidence. DK publishing. 2001. ISBN 9780789471673.
^Gaines, Richard M. (2001). Coelophysis. ABDO Publishing Company. p. 20. ISBN 1-57765-488-9.
^ abWeinbaum, J. C. (2013). "Postcranial skeleton of Postosuchus kirkpatricki (Archosauria: Paracrocodylomorpha), from the upper Triassic of the United States". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 379 (1): 525–553. Bibcode:2013GSLSP.379..525W. doi:10.1144/SP379.7. S2CID 129092753.
measurements of the vertebrae suggest that Postosuchus may have been committed to bipedal locomotion. Postosuchus was one of the largest carnivorous reptiles...
rauisuchids. These include Teratosaurus and Postosuchus. Weinbaum, J. C. (2013). "Postcranial skeleton of Postosuchus kirkpatricki (Archosauria: Paracrocodylomorpha)...
cladistic analysis of crocodylotarsan archosaurs included Poposaurus, Postosuchus, Teratosaurus, and Bromsgroveia within Poposauridae. However, later studies...
based on a myriad of shared traits, and some "rauisuchians" (such as Postosuchus and Rauisuchus) appear to be more closely related to crocodylomorphs...
armored aetosaurs, and several were bipedal, such as Poposaurus and Postosuchus. The bizarre, ornithomimid-like shuvosaurids were both bipedal and herbivorous...
pseudosuchian in the group Loricata, which also includes Saurosuchus and Postosuchus. It has historically been referred to as a "rauisuchian", and was the...
similarities between the hips of Poposaurus, Arizonasaurus, Bromsgroveia, Postosuchus, and Teratosaurus, and grouped them all in Poposauridae. Like paleontologists...
rigidity. This feature is also seen in several other "rauisuchians" such as Postosuchus as well as saurischian dinosaurs. Cladogram after the analysis of Nesbitt...
flattened bony plates. Batrachotomus was possibly an early relative of Postosuchus, which lived during the dawn of the dinosaurs. Batrachotomus was a heavily...
of Postosuchus, indicating predation by Postosuchus. The herd nature of Desmatosuchus apparently did little to discourage predators, as Postosuchus along...
by Erythrosuchus was filled by archosaurs including Saurosuchus and Postosuchus. Erythrosuchus was the largest predator of its time, and was around 4...
earliest dinosaurs, a member of the Triassic family Herrerasauridae Postosuchus, a rauisuchid which was an apex predator in parts of Late Triassic North...
worked based on the advice of their consultants. New Blood shows a male Postosuchus urinating to mark a female's territory as his own after she is driven...
referred to Postosuchus kirkpatricki. However, the rauisuchid remains from Hayden Quarry could be clearly distinguished from Postosuchus, and was erected...
the featured antagonists, which include Pteranodon, Tyrannosaurus, and Postosuchus. ABC originally planned to launch the series in September 2002, but decided...
and his team from the Texas Tech University (such as Technosaurus and Postosuchus). Although precise dating is lacking for much of the Dockum Group, including...
includes crocodilians and some of their Triassic relatives, such as Postosuchus and Prestosuchus. More specifically, Loricata includes Crocodylomorpha...
terrestrial predator ever discovered.[citation needed] Biggest individuals of Postosuchus and Saurosuchus had a body length of around 7 m (23 ft). A specimen of...
theropod from the Dockum Group of Texas (now assigned to the rauisuchian Postosuchus). In 1985, Charig noted that Herrerasaurus was of uncertain classification...
those hypothesized by Parrish. They claimed that "rauisuchians" such as Postosuchus, Batrachotomus, and Saurosuchus were closer to crocodylians than Poposaurus...
description of the new genus Postosuchus in 1985. Chatterjee even considered poposauroids to be the ancestors of tyrannosaurs. Postosuchus was widely considered...
given Placerias some protection against land-based predators such as Postosuchus.[citation needed] Placerias used its beak to slice through thick branches...
both crocodylomorphs and their more distant ancestors, reptiles like Postosuchus. However, it is also highly autapomorphic, meaning that it possessed...
(Dockum Group) of West Texas. The material includes the large rauisuchian Postosuchus, which was named for the nearby town of Post. It also included controversial...
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