''Tecovasuchus'' is an extinct

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

aetosaur Aetosaurs () are heavily armored reptiles belonging to the extinct order (biology), order Aetosauria (; from Ancient Greek, Greek, (aetos, "eagle") and (, "lizard")). They were medium- to large-sized Omnivore, omnivorous or Herbivore, herbivor ...

. It is known primarily from

osteoderm Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates, or other structures based in the dermis. Osteoderms are found in many groups of extant and extinct reptiles and amphibians, including lizards, crocodilians, frogs, temnospondyls (extinct amph ...

s found from the

Tecovas Formation The Tecovas Formation is a geological Formation (geology), formation in the Texas panhandle and eastern New Mexico. It is one of several formations encompassed by the Late Triassic Dockum Group.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distri ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, which is

Late Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch a ...

in age, dating back to the lower

Norian The Norian is a division of the Triassic geological period, Period. It has the rank of an age (geology), age (geochronology) or stage (stratigraphy), stage (chronostratigraphy). It lasted from ~227.3 to Mya (unit), million years ago. It was prec ...

. Material is also known from several other localities of the

Chinle Group The Chinle Formation is an Upper Triassic continental geological formation of fluvial, lacustrine, and palustrine to eolian deposits spread across the U.S. states of Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, western New Mexico, and western Colorado. In ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, such as older

Carnian The Carnian (less commonly, Karnian) is the lowermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Triassic series (stratigraphy), Series (or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Triassic Epoch (reference date), Epoch). It lasted from 237 to 227.3 ...

outcrops and younger

Rhaetian The Rhaetian is the latest age (geology), age of the Triassic period (geology), Period (in geochronology) or the uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Triassic system (stratigraphy), System (in chronostratigraphy). It was preceded by the N ...

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. ''Tecovasuchus'' was first recognized as a new taxon in 1995, although it was not named until the description of the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

, ''T. chatterjeei'', in 2006. Before its description, specimens of ''Tecovasuchus'' were thought to belong to '' Paratypothorax'' or a ''Paratypothorax''-like aetosaur. 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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4162489 Aetosaurs of North America Triassic Arizona Triassic geology of New Mexico Triassic geology of Texas Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera