Prestosuchus
Encyclopedia
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of a group of rauisuchia
Rauisuchia
Rauisuchia is a group of predatory and mostly large Triassic archosaurs. As a clade, Rauisuchia includes these Triassic forms and all crocodylomorphs, which are descendants of Triassic rauisuchians. The group in its traditional sense is paraphyletic, because it does not include crocodylomorph...
ns called prestosuchids. Friedrich von Huene
Friedrich von Huene
Friedrich von Huene was a German paleontologist who named more dinosaurs in the early 20th century than anyone else in Europe.-Biography:...
named the genus in honor of Vicentino Prestes de Almeida
Vicentino Prestes de Almeida
-Biography:Vicentino Prestes de Almeida, was a Brazilian paleontologist. He died on October 28, 1954, in São Pedro do Sul.- Biography:It was a self-taught paleontologist...
.
Like its prestosuchid cousins, Prestosuchus had a deep skull and serrated teeth. Prestosuchus lived in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
(Paleorrota
Paleorrota
Paleorrota , is a geopark located in the center of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The rocks and fossils found along the route date back to the times when there was only one supercontinent Pangaea....
) of the Late Triassic
Late Triassic
The Late Triassic is in the geologic timescale the third and final of three epochs of the Triassic period. The corresponding series is known as the Upper Triassic. In the past it was sometimes called the Keuper, after a German lithostratigraphic group that has a roughly corresponding age...
Period. It reached lengths of nearly 5 metres. While it resembled a dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
in having a large body and upright posture it was actually a rauisuchian archosaur
Archosaur
Archosaurs are a group of diapsid amniotes whose living representatives consist of modern birds and crocodilians. This group also includes all extinct non-avian dinosaurs, many extinct crocodilian relatives, and pterosaurs. Archosauria, the archosaur clade, is a crown group that includes the most...
. It was an ambush predator and may have hunted smaller animals like Hyperodapedon
Hyperodapedon
Hyperodapedon is a genus of rhynchosaur from the late Triassic period . The type species of Scaphonyx , Scaphonyx fischeri that once thought to be a dinosaur, is now known to be based on dubious material and therefore should be a nomen dubium...
. Prestosuchus had powerful legs that indicate it was a fast runner. Its closest relatives are Saurosuchus
Saurosuchus
Saurosuchus is an extinct genus of rauisuchian archosaur in the family Prestosuchidae. With a length of around 7 m , it was the largest rauisuchian, except perhaps for the less well known Fasolasuchus. Like other rauisuchians, Saurosuchus walked on four fully erect limbs...
and Postosuchus
Postosuchus
Postosuchus, meaning "crocodile from Post ", was a basal archosaur that lived in what is now North America during the middle through to the late Triassic period...
.
Prestosuchus chiniquensis was discovered in the Paleontological Site Chiniquá
Paleontological Site Chiniquá
Palaeontological Site Chiniquá is located in the Brazilian city of São Pedro do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul. That the margins of the highway BR-287, with an area of about 250 hectar. It is located at 70 kilometers from the city of Santa Maria. The site belongs to geopark of paleorrota...
, near the city of São Pedro do Sul
São Pedro do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul
- Paleontology :This city belongs to the geopark of Paleorrota.Museum of the city that have fossils:#Museum Paleontologic and Archaeological Walter Ilha.-Day of Paleorrota:...
in 1938, by the German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene
Friedrich von Huene
Friedrich von Huene was a German paleontologist who named more dinosaurs in the early 20th century than anyone else in Europe.-Biography:...
on a trip to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. This site is located in the geopark
Geopark
A Geopark is defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in its UNESCO Geoparks International Network of Geoparks programme as follows:...
of Paleorrota
Paleorrota
Paleorrota , is a geopark located in the center of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The rocks and fossils found along the route date back to the times when there was only one supercontinent Pangaea....
. A remarkably complete skeleton, with a well-preserved hind leg, was discovered at Dona Francisca
Dona Francisca
-See also:*List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul...
in Rio Grande do Sul by a team of paleontologists from the Universidade Luterana do Brasil
Universidade Luterana do Brasil
The Universidade Luterana do Brasil is a university located in the city of Canoas, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil...
and published in 2010.
