Ticinosuchus
| Ticinosuchus Temporal range: Middle Triassic,
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|---|---|
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| Holotype of Ticinosuchus ferox | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauria |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Clade: | Suchia |
| Genus: | †Ticinosuchus Krebs, 1965 |
| Species: | †T. ferox
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| Binomial name | |
| †Ticinosuchus ferox Krebs, 1965
| |
Cheirotherium tracefossil, which might have been made by Ticinosuchus, displayed in Oxford University Museum of Natural History
.Ticinosuchus is an
extinct genus of suchian archosaur from the Middle Triassic (Anisian - Ladinian) of Switzerland and Italy.[1]
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 3 metres (10 ft) 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.[2] 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.[3] The structure of the hips shows that its legs were placed under the body almost vertically. Coupled with the development of a calcaneus and a specialized ankle joint, this would have made Ticinosuchus a fast runner, unlike most earlier reptiles.[4]
Ticinosuchus is thought to be very close to or possible even the same species that made the Cheirotherium 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.[5]
Fish scales have been preserved in the abdomen of the specimen. This was likely indicative of a piscivorous diet.[6] Ticinosuchus shares many similarities with paracrocodylomorphs, such as certain adaptations of the ischium[1] and possibly (but not certainly) hyposphene-hypantrum articulations.[7][8]
References
- ^ S2CID 83493714.
- S2CID 129558756.
- PMID 27162705.
- ISBN 978-1-84028-152-1.
- ^ "Ticinosuco (Ticinosuchus)".
- S2CID 219193351.
- S2CID 86671911.
- PMID 29472991.
- 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.
