''Ticinosuchus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

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 ...

of suchian archosaur from the Middle Triassic (

Anisian In the geologic timescale, the Anisian is the lower stage (stratigraphy), stage or earliest geologic age, age of the Middle Triassic series (stratigraphy), series or geologic epoch, epoch and lasted from million years ago until million years ag ...

– Ladinian) of

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Description

Cheirotherium prints possibly Ticinosuchus

One of only a handful of fossil reptiles that have been found in Switzerland, ''Ticinosuchus'' (meaning "

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

crocodile" due to its origin from the Swiss canton Ticino) was about long, and its whole body, even the belly, was covered in thick, armoured

scute A scute () or scutum (Latin: ''scutum''; plural: ''scuta'' "Scutum (shield), shield") is a bony external plate or scale overlaid with horn, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodilians, and the feet of Bird anatomy#Scales, birds. The ter ...

s. These scutes were sometimes considered to have been staggered, alternating between several rows. However, some studies refute this claim, instead purporting that the scutes were aligned in neat rows, with a one-to-one assignment of scutes to vertebrae. The structure of the hips shows that its legs were placed under the body almost vertically. Coupled with the development of a

calcaneus In humans and many other primates, the calcaneus (; from the Latin ''calcaneus'' or ''calcaneum'', meaning heel; : calcanei or calcanea) or heel bone is a bone of the Tarsus (skeleton), tarsus of the foot which constitutes the heel. In some other ...

and a specialized

ankle The ankle, the talocrural region or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joint. The ...

joint, this would have made ''Ticinosuchus'' a fast runner, unlike most earlier reptiles. ''Ticinosuchus'' is thought to be very close to or possible even the same species that made the '' Cheirotherium''

trace fossil A trace fossil, also called an ichnofossil (; ), is a fossil record of biological activity by lifeforms, but not the preserved remains of the organism itself. Trace fossils contrast with body fossils, which are the fossilized remains of part ...

s found in Germany. It too shows a narrow track-way, similar to that of ''Ticinosuchus''. It is one of the most famous fossils of Besano. Ticinosuchus ferox head 45

Fish scales have been preserved in the abdomen of the specimen. This was likely indicative of a piscivorous diet. ''Ticinosuchus'' shares many similarities with paracrocodylomorphs, such as certain adaptations of the

ischium The ischium (; : is ...

and possibly (but not certainly) hyposphene-hypantrum articulations.

References

* Krebs, B. (1965). ''Ticinosuchus ferox'' nov. gen. nov. sp. Ein neuer Pseudosuchier aus der Trias des Monte San Giorgio. ''Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Paläontology, Abhandlungen'' 81: 1–140. * Sill, W. D. (1974). The anatomy of ''Saurosuchus galilei'' and the relationships of the rauisuchid thecodonts. ''Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology'' 146: 317–362. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1878170 Paracrocodylomorpha Middle Triassic reptiles of Europe Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera Anisian genus first appearances Fossil taxa described in 1965 Ladinian genus extinctions Triassic Switzerland Triassic Italy Fossils of Switzerland Fossils of Italy