Tecovasuchus

Tecovasuchus
Temporal range: Carnian-Rhaetian, 231.4–205 Ma Late Triassic
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Order: †Aetosauria
Family: †Stagonolepididae
Genus: †Tecovasuchus
Martz & Small, 2006
Species:
†T. chatterjeei
Binomial name
†Tecovasuchus chatterjeei
Martz & Small, 2006

Tecovasuchus is an extinct genus of aetosaur. It is known primarily from osteoderms found from the Tecovas Formation in Texas, which is Late Triassic in age, dating back to the lower Norian. Material is also known from several other localities of the Chinle Group in New Mexico and Arizona, such as older Carnian outcrops and younger Rhaetian outcrops. Specimens of Tecovasuchus have been collected from the Tecovas Formation, the Bluewater Creek Formation, and the Los Esteros Member of the Santa Rosa Formation.[1][2]

Tecovasuchus was first recognized as a new taxon in 1995, although it was not named until the description of the type species, T. chatterjeei, in 2006.[3][4] Before its description, specimens of Tecovasuchus were thought to belong to Paratypothorax or a Paratypothorax-like aetosaur.[2][5] Several features of the osteoderms distinguish Tecovasuchus from other aetosaur genera, including dorsal paramedian osteoderms with strongly thickened and beveled posterior edges and ornamentation consisting of deep pits and radiating grooves, as well as tongue-shaped dorsal and plate-like ventrolateral flanges.

Tecovasuchus is an index taxon for the St. Johnsian sub-LVF (land vertebrate faunachron) of the Adamanian LVF, and the presence of material belonging to the genus helps correlate different Late Triassic localities throughout the southwestern United States.[1]

  1. ^ a b Heckert, A. B.; Spielmann, J. A.; Lucas, S. G.; Hunt, A. P. (2007). "Biostratigraphic utility of the Upper Triassic aetosaur Tecovasuchus (Archosauria:Stagonolepididae), an index taxon of St. Johnsian (Adamanian:Late Carnian) time". In Lucas, S.G.; Spielmann, J.A. (eds.). The Global Triassic. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 41. Albuquerque, New Mexico: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. pp. 51–57. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b Parker, W. G. (2005). "Faunal review of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation of Arizona". In McCord, R. D. (ed.). Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin 11. pp. 34–54. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  3. ^ Lucas, S. G.; Heckert, A. B.; Hunt, A. P. (1995). "Unusual aetosaur armor from the Upper Triassic of West Texas, U.S.A.". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 69 (3–4): 467–473. Bibcode:1995PalZ...69..467L. doi:10.1007/bf02987807. S2CID 128897501.
  4. ^ Martz, J. W.; Small, B. J. (2006). "Tecovasuchus chatterjeei, a new aetosaur (Archosauria: Stagonolepididae) from the Tecovas Formation (Carnian, Upper Triassic) of Texas". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 26 (2): 308–320. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2006)26[308:tcanaa]2.0.co;2. S2CID 130818757.
  5. ^ Heckert, A. B. (1997). Litho- and biostratigraphy of the lower Chinle Group, east-central Arizona and west-central New Mexico, with a description of a new theropod (Dinosauria:Theropoda) from the Bluewater Creek Formation (MSc thesis). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico. p. 278.