Last month’s challenge brought in a few good guesses, but only one correct answer. Once again, Isotelus guessed correctly, and within hours of the posting of the challenge.
While it looks like a Wiener dog T-rex, I’m going to guess:
that it’s definitely a Crurotarsan, more specifically a Rauisuchid. I’m going to say Postosuchus.
This prehistoric wiener-dog is indeed Postosuchus.
(Taken at the Dinosaur Museum and National Science Laboratory)
During the late Triassic (288 to 202 million years ago), Postosuchus roamed across most of what is now North America. During this time, it was one of the largest predators on earth. It could have hunted and killed any of the dinosaurs that were alive at the same time. Postosuchus could reach a length of ~4 meters, stood ~2 meters tall, and could have weighed 250 to 300 kilograms. Postosuchus possessed a skull that was 55 cm long and 21 cm across.
Postosuchus had protective plates that covered their back, neck, and tail. These plates are something they share with their closest living relative the crocodilians. However, Postosuchus was a terrestrial predator and walked with its legs directly under the body. This armor probably protected them from other Postosuchus. During the late Triassic, there were not many other critters in the world that could challenge a full-grown and healthy Postosuchus, except another Postosuchus.
Moving on to this month’s challenge:
(Taken at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science)
Good luck and thanks to everyone that reads and guesses.
