Rhadinosuchus
Encyclopedia
Rhadinosuchus is an extinct genus of proterochampsia
Proterochampsia
Proterochampsia is a clade of early archosauriform reptiles from the Triassic period. It includes the genera Proterochampsa, Cerritosaurus, Chanaresuchus, Gualosuchus, Rhadinosuchus, and Tropidosuchus...

n archosauriform reptile from the Late Triassic
Late Triassic
The Late Triassic is in the geologic timescale the third and final of three epochs of the Triassic period. The corresponding series is known as the Upper Triassic. In the past it was sometimes called the Keuper, after a German lithostratigraphic group that has a roughly corresponding age...

. It is known only from the type species Rhadinosuchus gracilis. It is reposited in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

. The fossil has the form of an incomplete skull and fragments of post-cranial material. Hosffstetter (1955), Kuhn (1966), Reig (1970) and Bonaparte (1971) hypothesized it to be synonymous with Cerritosaurus
Cerritosaurus
Cerritosaurus is a genus of proterochampsid archosauromorph from the Upper Triassic. It has been found in the Santa Maria Formation, in the Geopark of Paleorrota. It is represented by one species....

, but other characteristics suggest it is closer to Chanaresuchus
Chanaresuchus
Chanaresuchus is an extinct genus of proterochampsian archosauriform. It was of modest size for a proterochampsian, being on average just over a meter in length. Fossils have been found from the Chañares Formation in La Rioja Provence, Argentina, dating back to the Ladinian stage of the Middle...

and Gualosuchus, while it is certainly different from Proterochampsa
Proterochampsa
Proterochampsa is a genus of proterosuchid archosauromorph from the Late Triassic of Argentina.-Sources:* The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs: Faunal Change across the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary by Kevin Padian...

and Barberenachampsa
Barberenachampsa
Barberenachampsa is a genus of proterosuchid archosauromorph from the Late Triassic of Brazil. It's named in honor of Mário Costa Barberena.- Species :...

. The small size indicates it is a young animal, making it hard to classify.

The fossil was collected at the Sanga 6 site (part of the Santa Maria Formation
Santa Maria Formation
The Santa Maria Formation is a sedimentary rock formation found in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It has a late Ladinian – early Carnian age , and is notable for its fossils of early dinosaurs, including the herrerasaur Staurikosaurus, the basal saurischian Teyuwasu, and the basal sauropodomorph...

), in Santa Maria, Paleorrota
Paleorrota
Paleorrota , is a geopark located in the center of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The rocks and fossils found along the route date back to the times when there was only one supercontinent Pangaea....

, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. It was collected by Friedrich von Huene
Friedrich von Huene
Friedrich von Huene was a German paleontologist who named more dinosaurs in the early 20th century than anyone else in Europe.-Biography:...

 in 1938. The remains are dated to the Triassic
Triassic
The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...

Period.
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