#sillosuchus

Sillosuchus lived in Late Triassic Argentina. The holotype, while still quite large for a shuvosaurid, was about 3 m (9.8 ft) long. But then, a finding of a large Sillosuchus-like neck vertebrae, as well as fragments of the tibia and ankle, pushed this animal’s size estimates up to 9 to 10 m (30 to 33 ft) in length, making it the tallest terrestrial pseudosuchian known. It would have had a beak like its relatives Effigia and Shuvosaurus, and likely used it to shear off plant material, reaching higher into the trees than any pseudosuchian would have ever hoped to dream. And since Sillosuchus came first, this makes sauropods the copy-cats!

Sillosuchus was found in the Cancha de Bocha member of the Ischigualasto Formation, which was at the time characterized by a dry climate with meandering rivers and seasonal rainfall. Sillosuchus would have lived alongside other dinosaur-like pseudosuchians, including the armoured Aetosauroides, the small, agile Trialestes, and the apex predator Saurosuchus. Dinosaurs would have included the early sauropodomorphs Chromogisaurus, Panphagia, and Eoraptor, and the early theropods Eodromaeus, Sanjuansaurus, and Herrerasaurus. Other reptiles would have included the silesaur Ignotosaurusm, the mysterious Incertovenator, the crocodile-like Proterochampsa and Pseudochampsa, the bizarre rhyncosaur Hyperodapedon, and the lepidosauromorph Taytalura. Synapsids like cynodonts and dicynodonts were also common here, and temnospondyls lived within the meandering rivers.