Tainrakuasuchus, new archosaur from Middle Triassic of Brazil (free access)

[Ben Creisler]

Ben Creisler

bcre...@gmail.com

A new paper:

Free access:

Tainrakuasuchus bellator gen. et sp. nov.

Rodrigo Temp Müller, Mauricio Silva Garcia, Lísie Vitória Soares Damke, Fabiula Prestes de Bem, André de Oliveira Fonseca, Mariana Doering, Jeung Hee Schiefelbein &Vitória Zanchett Dalle Laste (2025)
Osteology, taxonomy and phylogenetic affinities of a new pseudosuchian archosaur from the Middle Triassic of southern Brazil
Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 23(1): 2573750
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2025.2573750
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2025.2573750

Free access:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/14772019.2025.2573750
(NOTE: I can read the full text online but the download did not work.)

https://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3E0FA946-F24A-474A-8AD7-D50B1A09116C

Following the end-Permian mass extinction, archosaurs underwent rapid taxonomic and morphological diversification. While the avian lineage expanded into a broader range of ecological niches during the Late Triassic, the crocodilian lineage dominated ecosystems as early as the Middle Triassic, achieving an impressive range of morphological variation. Among the several pseudosuchian radiations that characterized the Middle Triassic, Poposauroidea stands out as one of the most enigmatic groups. From the Early to the Late Triassic, poposauroids evolved diverse body plans: some species developed dorsal ‘sails’, others became entirely edentulous, some adopted bipedal postures, and others occupied apex predator roles. In South America, the fossil record of Poposauroidea during the Middle Triassic is relatively scarce, being limited to Schultzsuchus loricatus, a relatively large-bodied predator known from fragmentary remains collected at a site within the Pinheiros–Chiniquá Sequence. In the present study, we describe Tainrakuasuchus bellator gen. et sp. nov., a new poposauroid from Brazil. The holotype was discovered at a locality known as the Posto Site, in the municipality of Dona Francisca (Pinheiros–Chiniquá Sequence; Middle Triassic). The specimen preserves a partial lower jaw, cervical and dorsal vertebrae, and an ilium. Tainrakuasuchus bellator gen. et sp. nov. is characterized by a slender mandible, ziphodont dentition and relatively elongated cervical vertebrae, representing a new medium-sized predatory archosaur. Phylogenetic analyses suggest affinities with Mandasuchus tanyauchen, a putative poposauroid from the Tanzanian Manda beds. The close relationship between these taxa, along with the strong faunal similarities between the respective geological units, reinforces the correlation between units and supports a Ladinian age. Finally, the discovery of Tainrakuasuchus bellator gen. et sp. nov. expands the known taxonomic diversity of the Dinodontosaurus Assemblage Zone and provides new insights into the key role played by pseudosuchians in the complex ecosystems of the Middle Triassic of south-western Gondwana.

****
News:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251112220239.htm

https://www.livescience.com/animals/extinct-species/240-million-year-old-warrior-crocodile-ancestor-from-pangaea-had-plated-armor-and-it-looked-just-like-a-dinosaur

https://phys.org/news/2025-11-predator-precursor-crocodile-early-dinosaurs.html

[Mickey Mortimer]

"(NOTE: I can read the full text online but the download did not work.)"

Yeah, when trying to copy the message saying "Your license does not permit this publication to be downloaded", I accidentally copied the following despite a new message popping up to say "Your access does not allow copying text".

"Osteology, taxonomy and phylogenetic affinities of a new pseudosuchian
archosaur from the Middle Triassic of southern Brazil

Rodrigo Temp M€ullera,b , Mauricio Silva Garciaa,b , L ısie Vit oria Soares Damke a,b , Fabiula Prestes de Bema,b ,
Andr e de Oliveira Fonseca a,b , Mariana Doeringa,b , Jeung Hee Schiefelbein a,b and Vit oria Zanchett Dalle Lastea,b
a
Centro de Apoio a Pesquisa da Quarta Col^onia, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Rua Maximiliano Vizzotto, 598, 97230-000
S~ao Jo~ao do Pol^esine, RS, Brazil; b Programa de P os-Graduac¸~ao em Biodiversidade Animal, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria,
97105-120 Santa Maria, RS, Brazil
(Received 6 July 2025; accepted 8 September 2025)

Following the end-Permian mass extinction, archosaurs underwent rapid taxonomic and morphological diversification.
While the avian lineage expanded into a broader range of ecological niches during the Late Triassic, the crocodilian
lineage dominated ecosystems as early as the Middle Triassic, achieving an impressive range of morphological variation.
Among the several pseudosuchian radiations that characterized the Middle Triassic, Poposauroidea stands out as one of
the most enigmatic groups. From the Early to the Late Triassic, poposauroids evolved diverse body plans: some species
developed dorsal ‘sails’, others became entirely edentulous, some adopted bipedal postures, and others occupied apex
predator roles. In South America, the fossil record of Poposauroidea during the Middle Triassic is relatively scarce, being
limited to Schultzsuchus loricatus, a relatively large-bodied predator known from fragmentary remains collected at a site

within the Pinheiros–Chiniqu a Sequence. In the present study, we describe Tainrakuasuchus bellator gen. et sp. nov., a new

poposauroid from Brazil. The holotype was discovered at a locality known as the Posto Site, in the municipality of Dona

Francisca (Pinheiros–Chiniqu a Sequence; Middle Triassic). The specimen preserves a partial lower jaw, cervical and dorsal

vertebrae, and an ilium. Tainrakuasuchus bellator gen. et sp. nov. is characterized by a slender mandible, ziphodont
dentition and relatively elongated cervical vertebrae, representing a new medium-sized predatory archosaur. Phylogenetic
analyses suggest affinities with Mandasuchus tanyauchen, a putative poposauroid from the Tanzanian Manda beds. The
close relationship between these taxa, along with the strong faunal similarities between the respective geological units,
reinforces the correlation between units and supports a Ladinian age. Finally, the discovery of Tainrakuasuchus bellator gen.
et sp. nov. expands the known taxonomic diversity of the Dinodontosaurus Assemblage Zone and provides new insights into
the key role played by pseudosuchians in the complex ecosystems of the Middle Triassic of south-western Gondwana.

https://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3E0FA946-F24A-474A-8AD7-D50B1A09116C

Keywords: cladistics; Gondwana; Ladinian; Paracrocodilomorpha; Poposauroidea
Introduction
During the Triassic Period, archosauromorph reptiles
underwent a major evolutionary radiation (Ezcurra,
2016; Ezcurra & Butler, 2018; Flannery-Sutherland
et al., 2025; Foth et al., 2016, 2021). After surviving the
end-Permian mass extinction, they rapidly diversified to
occupy a wide range of ecological niches on land, in
aquatic environments and in the air (Andres, 2012;
Ezcurra, 2016; Ezcurra & Butler, 2018; Li et al., 2004,
2012; M€uller et al., 2023). By the Middle Triassic, arch-
osauromorphs were nearly globally distributed, inhabit-
ing diverse environments across Pangaea (Ezcurra &
Butler, 2018; Flannery-Sutherland et al., 2025; Nesbitt
et al., 2017). Within Archosauria, the clade that includes

 ... (etc.)

487–494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2013.08.002
Ugalde, G. D., M€uller, R. T., Ara ujo-J unior, H. I., Dias-
da-Silva, S., & Pinheiro, F. L. (2020). A peculiar
bonebed reinforces gregarious behaviour for the Triassic
dicynodont Dinodontosaurus. Historical Biology, 32, 764–
772. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2018.1533960
Wilson, J. A. (1999). A nomenclature for vertebral laminae in
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Vertebrate Paleontology, 19, 639–653. https://doi.org/10.
1080/02724634.1999.10011178
Wilson, J. A., D’Emic, M. D., Ikejiri, T., Moacdieh, E. M., &
Whitlock, J. A. (2011). A nomenclature for vertebral fossae
in sauropods and other saurischian dinosaurs. PLoS ONE, 6,
e17114. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0017114
Zerfass, H., Lavina, E. L., Schultz, C. L., Garcia, A. J. V.,
Faccini, U. F., & Chemale Jr, F. (2003). Sequence
stratigraphy of continental Triassic strata of Southernmost
Brazil: A contribution to Southwestern Gondwana
palaeogeography and palaeoclimate. Sedimentary Geology,
161, 85–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0037-0738(02)00397-4
Zittel, K. A. R. von. (1887–1890). Handbuch der
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Associate Editor: Dr Martin Ezcurra
Osteology, taxonomy and phylogenetic affinities of a new pseudosuchian archosaur 31"

On top of the ol' copy-paste tech as always, SVP...

Making a technical paper readable but not downloadable is such a weird concept to me. Just how many people are interested in a topic enough to want to read a technical paper about it, but not interested enough to want to keep it in their records to access quickly later?

Mickey Mortimer

[Jerry Harris]

Also weirdly, when I requested a PDF of the new paper on the forelimb morphology of Confuciusornis from the author, he informed me that due to copyright restrictions, he couldn't share the final, published version of the paper with me, but he did send me what he referred to as the proofs of the paper. It appears that journals are getting reeeeeally puckered about their publications being shared and available widely.