Fasolasuchus
Fasolasuchus is an extinct genus of loricatan. Fossils have been found in the Los [Colorados Formation] of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in northwestern Argentina that date back to the Norian stage of the Late Triassic, making it one of the last rauisuchians to have existed before rauisuchians became Triassic–Jurassic [extinction event|extinct] at the end of the Triassic.
It is known from two individuals of different sizes, found very close to each other, these represent partial cranial and postcranial remains.
Description
Fasolasuchus is likely the largest known "rauisuchian", with an estimated length of to.This would make Fasolasuchus the largest terrestrial predator to have ever existed save for large theropods, surpassing the Cenozoic Barinasuchus, the rauisuchian counterpart Saurosuchus at, and many medium-sized theropods as large as Ceratosaurus. It had two rows of osteoderms along its back, these were likely in a one-to-one ratio with the vertebrae, but like Saurosuchus, it had only a single row on the tail, unusual among rauisuchians. It also had a hyposphene-hypantrum articulation that gave the vertebral column extra rigidity. This feature is also seen in several other rauisuchians such as Postosuchus as well as saurischian dinosaurs.
In the smaller individual the femur is 70 cm in length, double that of the fibula.