STL Science Center

STL Science Center

26 May 2016

Why Are You Famous?

The most well known of the species of Araripesuchus is A. wegeneri. Many quality specimens of this species exist and have been recovered including the block of a number of individuals interred together that was shared earlier in the week. Aside from that specimen there are a number of high quality skulls of A. wegeneri that allowed for dietary inferences to be detailed. The lower jaw is known only from the dentary and therefore does not add any information to the inferences about diet. The block, and other remains from other species, allowed for inferences about gait that painted the picture of a galloping terrestrial croc. This makes Araripesuchus look and walk much more like a mammal than a reptile.
From Sereno PC, Larsson HCE, 2008,
Cretaceous Crocodyliforms from the Sahara.

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