POSTOSUCHUS
This ancient archosaur lived around 220 million years ago in the Triassic, its name means “after crocodile”. Up to 4.5 metres long and weighing 1500 pounds, this was a tremendous carnivore, a hunter of the earliest forms of dinosaurs, its massive skull could deliver a ferocious bite and would find animals such as Coelophysis (a primitive dinosaur) an easy meal. Similarly to carnivores like Tyrannosaurus, Postosuchus had a skull that was taller than it was wide, which made its bite immensely powerful, paired with serrated teeth that could be up to 8cm long, this was a true terror of the Triassic.
Not only was Postosuchus fearsome in in power, but it was well defended, bony plates ran along its back and head and sharp claws rested on its feet. Postosuchus’ legs were under its body and with flat feet it could run reasonably fast, like a crocodile it was likely to be a solitary ambush hunter taking prey by total surprise. The structure of the legs also indicates that Postosuchus could be quadrupedal or bipedal, depending on the situation.
Postosuchus is an archosaur, very distantly related to dinosaurs and thought to be a primitive type of crocodile. However the skull shape and teeth led to people believing it could be an ancestor to dinosaurs, yet the position of the legs makes it more likely of crocodile lineage.
Despite Postosuchus’ incredible power, the species was no match for nature as it disappeared from the fossil record at the end of the Triassic. Yet if Postosuchus is an ancestor to the crocodiles, it left a fearsome legacy behind.
