#Desmatosuchus spurensis

[dinodorks]

Desmatosuchus spurensis 

by Sam Wise

[saritawolff]

#Archovember Day 29 - Desmatosuchus spurensis

One of the strangest pseudosuchians, Desmatosuchus was large (over 4.5 meters long), armored, and had a shovel-like snout. It was like if a crocodile tried to be an ankylosaur, a pig, and an armadillo all at once. Not only did they have armored scutes running down their back, they also had spines running down the sides of their neck into their shoulders. Desmatosuchus are the only aetosaurs known to have possessed spines like these. It is likely they travelled in herds or family groups, as their fossils are abundant and usually found grouped together. While their armor would have protected their necks, they were still probably preyed upon heavily by predators like Postosuchus, who also travelled in groups.

[alsosprachvelociraptor]

Timmy and Jimmy as dragons :) idk dragon AU i guess :)

size chart below, squares are 1m x 1m, explanations of the designs under cut

Timmy is a heavy, slow, big iron dragon. His osteoderms are made of the iron he ingests and he’s exclusively carnivorous, and an able predator even if slow in movements and unable to run because of his very short hind legs, even if he’s not a particularly aggressive dragon. He somewhat accepts company around him, or smaller creatures needing help (unless they are tasty enough for him). He’s not exclusively fossorial but lives in caves where he ingests iron ore (pyrite or hematite) to grow his osteoderms stronger. The iron-bony structures on his shoulder blades are probably modified old wing articulations used now for defence. He has strong mental powers and can mentally talk to sentient beings, or, if he feels evil enough, mind-control them.

Jimmy is a small rapacious dragon. His race obviously can fly, but due to birth defects, he can’t. It doesn’t matter, because he’s an able predator, also an opportunistic scavenger, and can also eat fish and pretty much anything that he can find. His bite is extremely nasty, his saliva extremely acidic and can cause severe burns if he really hates you. He’s extremely intelligent and can mimic voices and any language, even if with some always present speech impediments. He has raptor-like claws on his extremely strong and muscular front legs, and his wings are useless for flight, but perfect for communication. The patagium can change colour depending on his feeling (example, love season. And since he falls in love very easily, his patagium is almost always bright coloured) and patterns. He’s a lonely, solitary creature, but for opportunistic reasons he can be friendly to anyone he needs.

References for Timmy’s design: Erythrosuchus africanus (skull shape and size and main idea), Desmatosuchus spurensis (dermal armour), Poposaurus gracilis & Postosuchus kirkpatricki (upright position and long tail for stability), Batrachotomus kupferzellensis (body and tail shape), Mahajangasuchus insignis (skull shape)

References for Jimmy’s design: Hatzegopteryx thambema (general idea and wings shape), Rhamphorhynchus longicaudus (skull shape, tail and hind legs), Dicraeosaurus hansemanni (hips and back and neck design), Daeodon shoshonensis (neck and general design)

[stavrosskundromichalis]

A sample of Triassic terrestrial fauna, from Early to Late Triassic. From left to right: Lystrosaurus murrayi, Proterosuchus fergusi, Galesaurus planticeps, Erythrosuchus africanus, Shringasaurus indicus, Batrachotomus kupferzellensis, Dinodontosaurus turpior, Teleocrater rhadinus, Marasuchus lilloensis, Silesaurus opolensis, Hyperodapedon gordoni, Ornithosuchus woodwardi, Postosuchus kirkpatricki, Pseudochampsa ischigualastensis, Hesperosuchus agilis, Poposaurus gracilis, Blikanasaurus cromptoni, Desmatosuchus spurensis, Caelestiventus hanseni, Smilosuchus gregorii and Megazostrodon rudnerae.

[alphynix]

Weird Heads Month #28: Pig-Nosed Tanks

There's already been quite a few Triassic weirdos in this series, so it's probably not much of a surprise that we've got one more before the end of the month.

Desmatosuchus spurensis here was part of a group called aetosaurs, a lineage of heavily-armored herbivorous archosaurs which convergently resembled the later ankylosaurs but were more closely related to modern crocodilians.

Living in the Southwestern and South Central United States during the late Triassic, about 221-210 million years ago, Desmatosuchus measured around 4.5m long (14'9") and was covered in thick interlocking bony osteoderms that protected its back, sides, belly, and tail, with longer spines over its neck and shoulders.

It had a triangular skull with a few blunt teeth at the back of its jaws and a toothless snout at the front. Its pointed lower jaw probably had a keratinous beak, while its upper jaw had an odd upturned flared tip. What exactly was going on with that snoot is uncertain, but it may have anchored a shovel-shaped upper keratinous beak – or, since there was a little bit of flexibility between its snout bones, possibly even a pig-like nose!

It probably mostly ate soft vegetation, using its shovel-like snout to dig up roots and tubers, although similarities with the skulls of modern armadillos suggest it may also have fed on insect grubs.

———

Nix Illustration | Tumblr | Pillowfort | Twitter | Patreon

[antediluvianechoes]

Desmatosuchus spurensis by FinwalSMD

The eruption had happened a season ago as the volcano’s eastern side disappeared in a thundering, sky-blackening cloud of dust. The ash fell and settled on the mountains, painting the slopes in a dead pale gray. The smell of soot and burning kept the animals away. Only the hardiest of seedlings and most pervasive of weeds sent roots into it. Otherwise it was barren, unused. It was almost as if the ash piles were waiting for the rains.

And when the rains came, an outpouring twice what was normal for the season, the ash flowed with the water, a river of mud more than a meter deep, gushing over the land. The vegetation that had survived the explosion and ashfall drowned in the thick river. So, too, did the beasts hiding in boles and branches. 

Desmatosuchus was there. It saw the wall of mud, unstoppable, unbelievable, flowing like a gelatinous, amoebic monster. The reptile squeaked and turned to flee. Behind it, the mud pulled up trees, tossed them into its mass like a bored student flicking pencils over her shoulder. The mud roared, licked the soil and the low plants that lived there. They would never see light again. 

A rock was ahead, an outcropping of andesite a couple meters high. Smaller critters—insects and lizard-like things—were at its peak, huddling in fear. A larger reptile stood in the stone’s shadow, hiding under the lee, ignorant of the mud’s ability to sweep around rock and carry everything away. Desmatosuchus scrambled, shrieked again, scraped claws on rock, desperate for traction. The mud arrived, kissed the tip of the reptile’s tail. The shock of the touch made Desmatosuchus jump, pushing the smaller reptiles to the edge of the rock. The mud flowed beneath them, an endless grey tide, washing the world in its belated death. Eventually the rains stopped; the mud stilled. It took some time for it to dry, but the reptile’s could wait. Their metabolism permitted patience. When it was stiff enough to tread, Desmatosuchus clambered down and patrolled the mud where little steams of brown trickled among uprooted trees and dead bodies. Death was so prevalent, it seemed unnatural to be alive.

[oorspronklik]

Quite bass-ic

[wtf-triassic]

Desmatosuchus

By @apsaravis​

Etymology: Linked crocodile

First Described By: Case, 1920

Classification: Biota, Archaea, Proteoarchaeota, Asgardarchaeota, Eukaryota, Neokaryota, Scotokaryota, Opimoda, Podiata, Amorphea, Obazoa, Opisthokonta, Holozoa, Filozoa, Choanozoa, Animalia, Eumetazoa, Parahoxozoa, Bilateria, Nephrozoa, Deuterostomia, Chordata, Olfactores, Vertebrata, Craniata, Gnathostomata, Eugnathostomata, Osteichthyes, Sarcopterygii, Rhipidistia, Tetrapodomorpha, Eotetrapodiformes, Elpistostegalia, Stegocephalia, Tetrapoda, Reptiliomorpha, Amniota, Sauropsida, Eureptilia, Romeriida, Disapsida, Neodiapsida, Sauria, Archosauromorpha, Crocopoda, Archosauriformes, Eucrocopoda, Archosauria, Pseudosuchia, Aetosauria, Stagonolepididae, Desmatosuchinae

Referred Species: D. spurensis, D. smalli

Status: Extinct 

Time and Place: 237 to 208 million years ago, from the Carnian to the Norian of the Late Triassic

Desmatosuchus is known from Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming.

Physical Description: Desmatosuchus was yet another weird crocodile relative. It grew up to around 4.5 meters (15 feet) in length. Its head was small relative to its body size, and had a narrow, slightly upturned snout. The front of the upper snout was slightly expanded, forming a shovel-like structure. The teeth, which were only present in the backs of the jaws, were peg-shaped. It would have stood pretty much upright off the ground, although the limbs were not very flexible. The body was heavily armored, with the back being covered with a row of blocky osteoderms and bordered by a row of triangular osteoderms on each side. On the neck and over the shoulders, these had grown into large, backward-curved spikes.

Diet: Desmatosuchus was likely primarily herbivorous, although a degree of omnivory (for example, also eating insects) is not off the table, based on a few anatomial similarities to armadillos.

Behavior: Desmatosuchus like used its shovellike snout to uproot soft plants from the ground. This is slightly similar to modern pigs, but with less rooting around because Desmatosuchus probably didn’t have any movable fleshy bits to its snout. When chewing, the lower jaw would have fit almost perfectly into the upper jaw, to help shear soft plant material. Desmatosuchus lived in herds, possibly of related individuals - there are instances of Desmatosuchus fossils being found together in quarries, with up to 14 individuals found associated in the Placerias Quarry of Arizona. The spikes on its neck and shoulders were likely used for defense against predators such as Postosuchus, but given the size of them can vary dramatically, they may have also been used for visual display.

Ecosystem: Desmatosuchus is - yet again - from late Triassic North America! We’ve been over what lived in this area many times before. In one instance, Desmatosuchus was found in association with, among other things, temnospondyls, poposaurids, a pterosaur, and what was either an early ornithischian or Revueltosaurus. This assemblage only spans one meter of Dockum Group rock, suggesting that it was deposited there by a flash flood. Desmatosuchus probably hung around waterways, as it’s often found alongside phytosaurs and temnospondyls.

Other: There are two species of Desmatosuchus: D. spurensis and D. smalli. D. smalli lived later than D. spurensis and, among other minor differences, had fewer teeth and larger spikes. 

~ By Henry Thomas

Sources under the cut

Parker, W.G. 2005. A new species of the Late Triassic aetosaur Desmatosuchus (Archosauria: Pseudosuchia). Comptes Rendus Palevol 4: 237-340.

Parker, W.G. 2008. Description of new material of the aetosaur Desmatosuchus spurensis (Archosauria: Suchia) from the Chinle Formation of Arizona and a revision of the genus Desmatosuchus. PaleoBios 28(1).

Small, B.J. 1985. The Triassic thecodontian reptile Desmatosuchus: osteology and relationships. Unpublished thesis, Texas Tech University.

Small, B.J. 2002. Cranial anatomy of Desmatosuchus haplocerus (Reptilia: Archosauria: Stagonolepididae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 136(1): 97-111.