Its diet probably included dicynodonts, early dinosaurs, herbivorous pseudosuchians, and other archosauromorphs such as allokotosaurs.īehavior: Based on how small the arms were relative to the hindlimbs, it is likely Postosuchus was bipedal, and probably even been an obligate biped based on the anatomy of its hips and limbs.

The hands and feet had five digits each.ĭiet: Postosuchus was an apex predator. The legs were longer, but shorter than those of theropod dinosaurs, giving Postosuchus a lower-slung stance. Some of the fingers were slightly reduced in size, foreshadowing would happen to tyrannosaurs much later. Its forelimbs were much shorter than its hindlimbs and its hands were relatively small.

The body and tail were long and covered with osteoderms, which have prserved in the fossil record. The top of the skull has a flattened dorsal surface and roughened “brow ridges” that may have been covered with keratin in life. Its head was robust and rectangular in side view, with large spikelike teeth. Physical Description: Postosuchus was one the larger pseudosuchians of the Triassic, growing up to 6 meters (20 feet) in length. Postosuchus is known from Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and North Carolina. Time and Place: 227 to 201 million years ago, from the Norian to the Rhaetian of the Late Triassic. Classification: Biota, Archaea, Proteoarchaeota, Asgardarchaeota, Eukaryota, Neokaryota, Scotokaryota, Opimoda, Podiata, Amorphea, Obazoa, Opisthokonta, Holozoa, Filozoa, Choanozoa, Animalia, Eumetazoa, Parahoxozoa, Bilateria, Nephrozoa, Deuterostomia, Chordata, Olfactores, Vertebrata, Craniata, Gnathostomata, Eugnathostomata, Osteichthyes, Sarcopterygii, Rhipidistia, Tetrapodomorpha, Eotetrapodiformes, Elpistostegalia, Stegocephalia, Tetrapoda, Reptiliomorpha, Amniota, Sauropsida, Eureptilia, Romeriida, Diapsida, Neodiapsida, Sauria, Archosauromorpha, Crocopoda, Archosauriformes, Eucrocopoda, Crurotarsi, Archosauria, Pseudosuchia, Suchia, Paracrocodylomorpha, Loricata, Rauisuchidae

Walking with dinosaurs postosuchus