Ticinosuchus Ferox Head 45 on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
''Ticinosuchus'' is an
Fish scales have been preserved in the abdomen of the specimen. This was likely indicative of a piscivorous diet. ''Ticinosuchus'' shares many similarities with
''Ticinosuchus'' 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 of suchian archosaur
Archosauria () is a clade of diapsids, with birds and crocodilians as the only living representatives. Archosaurs are broadly classified as reptiles, in the cladistic sense of the term which includes birds. Extinct archosaurs include non-avian d ...
from the Middle Triassic ( Anisian - Ladinian) of Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and Italy.
Description
One of only a handful of fossil reptiles that have been found in Switzerland, ''Ticinosuchus'' (meaning " Ticino crocodile" due to its origin from the Swiss canton Ticino) was about long, and its whole body, even the belly, was covered in thick, armoured scutes. These scutes were sometimes considered to have been staggered, alternating between several rows. However, some studies refute this claim, instead purporting that the scutes were aligned in neat rows, with a one-to-one assignment of scutes to vertebrae. The structure of the hips shows that its legs were placed under the body almost vertically. Coupled with the development of acalcaneus
In humans and many other primates, the calcaneus (; from the Latin ''calcaneus'' or ''calcaneum'', meaning heel) or heel bone is a bone of the tarsus of the foot which constitutes the heel. In some other animals, it is the point of the hock.
S ...
and a specialized ankle joint, this would have made ''Ticinosuchus'' a fast runner, unlike most earlier reptiles.
''Ticinosuchus'' is thought to be very close to or possible even the same species that made the ''Cheirotherium
''Chirotherium'', also known as ''Cheirotherium'' (‘hand-beast’), is a Triassic trace fossil consisting of five-fingered (pentadactyle) footprints and whole tracks. These look, by coincidence, remarkably like the hands of apes and bears, with ...
'' trace fossils found in Germany. It too shows a narrow track-way, similar to that of ''Ticinosuchus''. It is one of the most famous fossils of Besano.
Fish scales have been preserved in the abdomen of the specimen. This was likely indicative of a piscivorous diet. ''Ticinosuchus'' shares many similarities with paracrocodylomorphs
Paracrocodylomorpha is a clade of pseudosuchian archosaurs. The clade includes the diverse and unusual group Poposauroidea as well as the generally carnivorous and quadrupedal members of Loricata, including modern crocodylians. Paracrocodylomorpha ...
, such as certain adaptations of the ischium
The ischium () form ...
and possibly (but not certainly) hyposphene-hypantrum articulations.
References
* Krebs, B. (1965). ''Ticinosuchus ferox'' nov. gen. nov. sp. Ein neuer Pseudosuchier aus der Trias des Monte San Giorgio. ''Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Paläontology, Abhandlungen'' 81: 1–140. * Sill, W.D. (1974). The anatomy of ''Saurosuchus galilei'' and the relationships of the rauisuchid thecodonts. ''Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology'' 146: 317–362. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1878170 Paracrocodylomorphs Triassic reptiles of Europe Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera