''Puercosuchus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

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 azendohsaurid archosauromorph from the Blue Mesa Member of the

Chinle Formation The Chinle Formation is an Upper Triassic continental geological formation of fluvial, lacustrine, and palustrine to eolian deposits spread across the U.S. states of Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, western New Mexico, and western Colorado. In Ne ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. The genus contains a single species, ''Puercosuchus traverorum'', known from a bonebed of at least eight individuals.

Discovery and naming

The ''Puercosuchus''

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 ...

, PEFO 43914, was discovered by a group of

Girl Scouts Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

in 2014, and since then, over 900 skeletal remains have been recovered from at least eight individuals. Many of these were previously referred to ''

Malerisaurus ''Malerisaurus'' is an extinct genus of archosauromorph known from Andhra Pradesh of India and Texas of the USA. Description ''Malerisaurus'' was a medium-sized archosauromorph which averaged 1.2 meters in length. ''Malerisaurus'' is known from ...

''. ''Puercosuchus'' was named and described in 2022 after being announced in 2021.A. Marsh, W. Parker, S. Nesbitt, B. Kligman, M. Stocker, E. Patellos. (2021) A NEW SPECIES OF CARNIVOROUS AZENDOHSAURID (ARCHOSAUROMORPHA) FROM THE CHINLE FORMATION OF PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK. ''The Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology''. The generic name, "''Puercosuchus''", honours the

Puerco River The Puerco River or Rio Puerco is a tributary of the Little Colorado River in northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona. It flows through arid terrain, including the Painted Desert. Name The Puerco River is sometimes called Rio Puerco ...

, near where the holotype was found. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, "''traverorum''" honors the former

Petrified Forest National Park Petrified Forest National Park is an American national park in Navajo County, Arizona, Navajo and Apache County, Arizona, Apache counties in northeastern Arizona. Named for its large deposits of petrified wood, the park covers about , encompassin ...

superintendent, Brad Traver, and his wife, Denise Traver.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q116256626 Allokotosaurs Prehistoric reptile genera Late Triassic reptiles of North America Paleontology in Arizona Fossil taxa described in 2022