Protosuchus

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Extinct genus of reptiles

title: "Protosuchus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["crocodyliformes", "early-jurassic-crocodylomorphs", "terrestrial-crocodylomorphs", "early-jurassic-reptiles-of-north-america", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1934", "taxa-named-by-barnum-brown", "prehistoric-pseudosuchian-genera"] description: "Extinct genus of reptiles" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protosuchus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of reptiles ::

P. haughtoni (Busbey and Gow, 1984)
P. micmac Sues et al. 1996 | synonyms = * Archaeosuchus Brown, 1933 (preoccupied)
Baroqueosuchus Busbey and Gow, 1984
Lesothosuchus Whetstone and Whybrow, 1983

Protosuchus (from , "first" and , "crocodile") is an extinct genus of carnivorous crocodyliform from the Early Jurassic. It is among the earliest animals that resemble crocodilians. Protosuchus was about 1 m in length and about 40 kg in weight. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Protosuchus_BW.jpg" caption="Life restoration of ''Protosuchus''"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Protosuchus_richardsoni_AMNH_3024_cast_skull.jpg" caption="The skull of ''Protosuchus richardsoni'' (AMNH 3024)"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Protosuchus_richardsoni_AMNH_3024_cast_pelvis.jpg" caption="The pelvis and hindlimbs of ''Protosuchus richardsoni'' (AMNH 3024)"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Protosuchus.jpg" caption="''Protosuchus richardsoni'' fossil AMNH 3024"] ::

As an early crocodilian relative, its skull featured more crocodilian characteristics than its earlier ancestors; it had short jaws that broadened out at the base of the skull, providing a large surface to which its jaw muscles could attach. This increased the maximum gape of the animal's mouth and the force with which the jaws could be closed. The dentition of the animal also resembled modern crocodiles, including the teeth in the lower jaw that fitted into notches on either side of the upper jaw when the mouth was closed. It also possessed a powerful tail which later developed into a propulsion mechanism through water in its descendants.

The body was covered and reinforced by osteoderms in a double row along the back and covering the bottom of the body and the entire tail. It was an unusual quadrupedal reptile whose legs were columnar, with the rear legs longer than the front legs. Its five toes were clawed and it is believed that they were good runners and good swimmers.

Species

Three species of Protosuchus have been described: the type species P. richardsoni from Arizona, United States, P. micmac from Nova Scotia, Canada and P. haughtoni from South Africa.

References

(1951). "The dinosaur book: the ruling reptiles and their relatives". McGraw-Hill.
(1999). "The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals". Marshall Editions.
[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=180582 "FossilWorks: Protosuchus richardsoni" ], retrieved 26 Feb 2014
[http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~polsen/nbcp/NAPC_new_sm.pdf "Triassic-Jurassic faunal and floral transition in the Fundy Basin, Nova Scotia"], Authors: Paul E. Olsen, Jessica H. Whiteside, Timothy Fedak, retrieved 26 Feb 2014
(17 April 2000). "The Skull of Protosuchus haughtoni, an Early Jurassic Crocodyliform from Southern Africa". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=171914 "FossilWorks: Protosuchus haughtoni"], retrieved 26 Feb 2014

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::