Postosuchus

From Freepedia

Image:Postosuchus.jpgPostosuchus was a basal archosaur ("ruling lizard") which lived in what is now North America during the end of the Triassic period (220-205 million years ago). It was a running carnivore which predated on cynodonts and other prey smaller than itself. Its name means "Post crocodile" and it comes from the Post Quarry in Texas, where many fossils of the spieces were found.

It was a quadrupedal reptile with a wide skull and a long tail. It was about 6 meters long, 2 meters tall and was held by columnar legs (a quite uncommon feature in reptiles). It used its crocodile-like snout, filled with many large-sized dagger-like teeth, to kill its prey. It had defensive features as well in the shape of rows of protective plates which covered its back.

Postosuchus in "Walking with Dinosaurs"

Postosuchus appears in the first program of the BBC's series Walking with Dinosaurs, where CG animation was used to recreate extinct beasts throughout the Mesozoic era. In this episode, it appears as the top predator, preying on Placerias, large dicynodonts. A female Postosuchus depicted in the series sustains a fatal injury when hunting, loses her territory to a fellow Postosuchus and is finally killed by the Coelophysis, too weak to defend herself.