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New Middle Triassic Crocodile-Line Predator, Tainrakuasuchus bellator, Described From Brazil

Peer‑reviewed analysis places the species near Tanzania’s Mandasuchus, highlighting Gondwanan links across Pangaea.

Overview

  • The study, published November 12 in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, formally names the new pseudosuchian and details its anatomy and relationships.
  • The holotype was excavated in May 2025 near Dona Francisca in southern Brazil and preserves parts of the lower jaw, cervical and dorsal vertebrae, and an ilium.
  • Researchers estimate a body length of about 2.4 m and mass around 60 kg, with osteoderms on the back, a slender jaw, and sharp recurved teeth suited for seizing prey.
  • Although superficially dinosaur‑like, the animal is placed within Pseudosuchia and is distinguished from dinosaurs by pelvic and femoral joint features.
  • The specimen lacks limbs, so locomotion is inferred from relatives as quadrupedal, and its affinities with Mandasuchus support Ladinian age correlations and expand the sparse South American poposauroid record.