''Apachesuchus'' is an extinct
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
aetosaur
Aetosaurs () are heavily armored reptiles belonging to the extinct order Aetosauria (; from Greek, (aetos, "eagle") and (, "lizard")). They were medium- to large-sized omnivorous or herbivorous pseudosuchians, part of the branch of archosaurs ...
from the
Late Triassic
The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch ...
of
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
. It is only known from several paramedian
osteoderms
Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates, or other structures based in the dermis. Osteoderms are found in many groups of extant and extinct reptiles and amphibians, including lizards, crocodilians, frogs, temnospondyls (extinct ...
discovered in
Quay County in eastern New Mexico. This area belongs to the late
Norian
The Norian is a division of the Triassic Period. It has the rank of an age (geochronology) or stage (chronostratigraphy). It lasted from ~227 to million years ago. It was preceded by the Carnian and succeeded by the Rhaetian.
Stratigraphic defi ...
-age Quay Member of the
Redonda Formation
The Redonda Formation is a geologic formation exposed in eastern New Mexico.Dobrovolny and Summerson 1947 It contains vertebrate fossils of the late Triassic Period.Griggs and Read 1959 Fossil theropod tracks have been reported from the formation ...
. Unique among aetosaurs, its osteoderms are nearly completely smooth, without strong pits or grooves.
The left dorsal paramedian has a relatively high width-to-length ration (about 3.25), suggesting that ''Apachesuchus'' is a wide-bodied aetosaur within the
clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
Typothoracinae.
The
holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...
and referred material of ''Apachesuchus'' were initially described by Heckert et al. (2001), who assigned them to the South American aetosaur ''
Neoaetosauroides
''Neoaetosauroides'' is an extinct genus of primitive aetosaur. Its type and only species is ''N. engaeus''. Fossils have been found in Los Colorados Formation outcropping along the Sierra Morada River in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in ...
''.
[Heckert et al. (2001) Heckert AB, Lucas SG, Hunt AP, Harris JD. A giant phytosaur (Reptilia: Archosauria) skull from the Redonda Formation (Upper Triassic: Apachean) of east-central New Mexico. In: Lucas SG, Ulmer-Scholle DS, editors. Geology of the Llano Estacado, 52nd Field Conference. Socorro: New Mexico Geological Society; 2001. pp. 169–176. (New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook).] However, this comparison was based on ''Neoaetosauroides'' osteoderms which had been overprepared, removing their surface texture. In their 2012 monograph on vertebrates of the Redonda Formation, Justin Spielmann and Spencer Lucas decided that the material reported by Heckert et al. was sufficiently distinct to be recognized as a new genus and species. They named it ''Apachesuchus heckerti'', in honor of Andrew Heckert.
[J. A. Spielmann and S. G. Lucas. 2012]
Tetrapod fauna of the Upper Triassic Redonda formation, East-Central New Mexico: the characteristic assemblage of the Apachean land-vertebrate faunachron
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 55:1-119.
References
Aetosaurs
Late Triassic reptiles of North America
Late Triassic pseudosuchians
Fossil taxa described in 2012
Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera
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