Protome batalaria

Protome batalaria
Temporal range: Late Triassic,
221.5–205.6 Ma
Life restoration of Protome batalaria
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Clade: Archosauriformes
Order: Phytosauria
Family: Parasuchidae
Genus: Protome
Stocker, 2012
Species:
P. batalaria
Binomial name
Protome batalaria
Stocker, 2012

Protome is an extinct genus of parasuchid phytosaur from the Late Triassic of Arizona, represented by a single species, Protome batalaria. It is known from a single holotype incomplete, partially disarticulated skull and left lower jaw called PEFO 34034 from the Upper Lot's Wife beds, Sonsela Member of the Chinle Formation in Petrified Forest National Park. The skull was discovered in 2004 by Michelle Stocker and Bill Parker and was described by them as a specimen of Smilosuchus adamanensis (then a species of Leptosuchus).[1] It was placed in the new genus Protome in 2012. The genus name Protome is the Greek word for an animal's face. The specific name batalaria is the Latin word for battleship, which is a reference to Battleship NW, the locality within Petrified Forest where the skull was found.[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chinleana was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Stocker, M. R. (2012). "A new phytosaur (Archosauriformes, Phytosauria) from the Lot's Wife beds (Sonsela Member) within the Chinle Formation (Upper Triassic) of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (3): 573–586. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.649815. S2CID 129527672.