Prestosuchus
Sign in to savePrestosuchus (meaning "Prestes crocodile") is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian in the group Loricata, which also includes Saurosuchus and Postosuchus. It has historically been referred to as a "rauisuchian", and was the defining member of the family Prestosuchidae, though the validity of both of these groups is questionable: Rauisuchia is now considered paraphyletic and Prestosuchidae is polyphyletic in its widest form.
Article
14 sectionsContents
- History of study
- Munich specimens
- Porto Alegre specimens
- Other specimens
- Description
- Skull
- Vertebrae
- Pectoral girdle and forelimbs
- Hip and hindlimbs
- Classification
- Paleobiology
- Musculature
- Growth
- References
Prestosuchus (meaning "Prestes crocodile") is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian in the group Loricata, which also includes Saurosuchus and Postosuchus. It has historically been referred to as a "rauisuchian", and was the defining member of the family Prestosuchidae, though the validity of both of these groups is questionable: Rauisuchia is now considered paraphyletic and Prestosuchidae is polyphyletic in its widest form.
== History of study == The holotype of Prestosuchus chiniquensis was discovered by Wilhelm Rau alongside the holotype of Rauisuchus tiradentes in the Santa Maria Formation at the Paleontological Site Chiniquá, near the city of São Pedro do Sul in 1928 or 1929, and the fossils were shipped back to Germany for study by the German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene. Von Huene named the genus Prestosuchus in 1938 in honor of Vicentino Prestes de Almeida. This site is located in the geopark of Paleorrota.