Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
533 / Mesozoic
Erythrosuchus
Erythrosuchus africanus
An enormous deep skull sat on a relatively low body in this early archosauriform apex predator.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 247–242 million years ago
- Final stage
- Middle Triassic
- Geographic range
- Semi-arid river plain · South Africa
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Erythrosuchus?
Erythrosuchus (Erythrosuchus africanus) was an extinct organism known from About 247–242 million years ago, with a range in Semi-arid river plain · South Africa.
Life and ecology
It ambushed large tetrapods along waterways and tore flesh with serrated teeth.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Erythrosuchus disappear?
More upright and agile archosaurs later occupied similar roles, but a younger fauna does not by itself show that they replaced it.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Erythrosuchus?
Multiple skulls and skeletons constrain form; gait and hunting remain functional inference.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS