Rauisuchus
Sign in to saveRauisuchus (meaning "Wilhelm Rau's crocodile") is a genus of extinct archosaurs which lived in what is now the Geopark of Paleorrota (Santa María Formation), Brazil, during the Late Triassic period (235–228 million years ago). It contains one species, R. tiradentes.F. v. Huene. (1942) Die fossilen Reptilien des südamerikanischen Gondwanalandes. Ergebnisse der Sauriergrabung in Südbrasilien 1928/29. München: C.H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung
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4 sectionsContents
- Discovery and naming
- Description
- Classification
- References
Rauisuchus (meaning "Wilhelm Rau's crocodile") is a genus of extinct archosaurs which lived in what is now the Geopark of Paleorrota (Santa María Formation), Brazil, during the Late Triassic period (235–228 million years ago). It contains one species, R. tiradentes.
==Discovery and naming== In 1928 or 1929, near the road from Santa Maria to San Jose, Dr. Wilhelm Rau, a German fossil collector working under Friedrich von Huene, discovered the remains of a rauisuchid crocodile. He made the discovery some from the road at a site known as the Zahnsanga, which was likely a ravine or escarpment parallel to the road. The Zahnsanga site was part of the Alemoa Member of the Santa Maria Formation and was found in the uppermost of an layer. von Huene then sent the R. tiradentes material back to Germany alongside other fossils, including the holotype of Prestosuchus chiniquensis.