page_title: Placerias
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Placerias / Description
caption_attribution_description: Credit Dr. Jeff Martz/NPS
context_page_description: Placerias is an extinct genus of dicynodonts that lived during the late Carnian age of the Triassic Period. Placerias belongs to a group of dicynodonts called Kannemeyeriiformes, which was the last known group of dicynodonts before dicynodonts became extinct at the end of the Triassic.
context_section_description: Placerias was one of the largest herbivores in the Late Triassic, measuring up to 3.5 metres (11.5 ft) long and weighing up to a tonne (1000 kilograms)  with a powerful neck, strong legs, and a barrel-shaped body. There are possible ecological and evolutionary parallels with the modern hippopotamus, spending much of its time during the wet season wallowing in the water, chewing at bankside vegetation. Remaining in the water would also have given Placerias some protection against land-based predators such as Postosuchus. Placerias used its beak to slice through thick branches and roots with two short tusks that could be used for defence and for intra-specific display. Placerias was closely related to Ischigualastia and similar in appearance.
caption: P. hesternus compared to a human
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