Prestosuchus

Common card · No. 492201

Prestosuchus (meaning "Prestes' crocodile") is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian in the group Loricata, from the Middle Triassic of Brazil. Prestosuchus is one of the largest and most extensively described early loricatans, known from many specimens including partial skeletons and enormous skulls. All undisputed Prestosuchus fossils are from the lower Santa Maria Formation (Dinodontosaurus assemblage zone) of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The type species, Prestosuchus chiniquensis, was originally named by Friedrich von Huene in 1938, though its original fossils were rather fragmentary compared to later finds. There has been some debate over exactly how many species are contained within Prestosuchus. Some purported Prestosuchus species are at other times regarded as unrelated pseudosuchians, such as Procerosuchus, Schultzsuchus ("Prestosuchus loricatus"), and Stagonosuchus ("Prestosuchus nyassicus"). Alongside relatives such as Saurosuchus and Postosuchus, Prestosuchus has historically been...

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