page_title: Terrestrisuchus
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Terrestrisuchus / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Skeletal reconstruction of Terrestrisuchus gracilis.
context_page_description: Terrestrisuchus is an extinct genus of very small early crocodylomorph that was about 76 centimetres long. Fossils have been found in Wales and Southern England and date from near the very end of the Late Triassic during the Rhaetian, and it is known by type and only known species T. gracilis. Terrestrisuchus was a long-legged, active predator that lived entirely on land, unlike modern crocodilians. It inhabited a chain of tropical, low-lying islands that made up southern Britain, along with similarly small-sized dinosaurs and abundant rhynchocephalians. Numerous fossils of Terrestrisuchus are known from fissures in limestone karst which made up the islands it lived on, which formed caverns and sinkholes that preserved the remains of Terrestrisuchus and other island-living reptiles.
context_section_description: Terrestrisuchus was a small, slender crocodylomorph with very long legs, quite unlike modern crocodilians. It was initially estimated to have been between 49 to 76 centimetres (19 to 30 in) long, although this estimate may be based on juvenile specimens and fully grown Terrestrisuchus may have reached or exceeded 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length.
  Its skull was long and narrow, with a tapering, pointed triangular snout lined with sharp curved teeth. The upper jaw margin was straight, and lacked a diastema (a gap in the tooth row) between the maxilla and the premaxilla. By contrast, the long and slender dentary bones of the lower jaw curved slightly upwards towards the front. Unlike modern crocodilians, the eye of Terrestrisuchus was supported by a ring of bony ossicles, the sclerotic ring.
   
  The body was relatively short and shallow, and the spine was topped by paired rows of osteoderms running down from its neck down its back. These osteoderms are described as "leaf-shaped", being relatively longer than wide with a prominent spur at the front that slides under and interlocks with the scute in front of it. This provides a rigid support for the body and limited the flexibility of its spine, supporting its body on land. The hips of Terrestrisuchus had an elongated pubis, unlike living crocodilians. Terrestrisuchus is also known to have had tightly packed gastralia, or belly ribs. Its tail was particularly long, about twice the length of the head and body combined with an estimated 70 caudal vertebrae in total, and may have been used as a balance allowing the animal to rear up and run on its hind legs for brief periods.
caption: Skeletal restoration showing known remains
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