Tecovasuchus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}} {{speciesbox | taxon = Tecovasuchus chatterjeei | fossil_range = [[Carnian]]-[[Rhaetian]], {{fossilrange|231.4|205}} [[Late Triassic]] | parent_authority = Martz & Small, [[2006 in paleontology|2006]] | authority = Martz & Small, 2006 }}

'''''Tecovasuchus''''' is an extinct [[genus]] of [[aetosaur]]. It is known primarily from [[osteoderm]]s found from the [[Tecovas Formation]] in [[Texas]], which is [[Late Triassic]] in age, dating back to the lower [[Norian]]. Material is also known from several other localities of the [[Chinle Group]] in [[New Mexico]] and [[Arizona]], such as older [[Carnian]] outcrops and younger [[Rhaetian]] outcrops. Specimens of ''Tecovasuchus'' have been collected from the Tecovas Formation, the Bluewater Creek Formation, and the Los Esteros Member of the [[Santa Rosa Formation, New Mexico|Santa Rosa Formation]].<ref name=HSLH07>{{cite book |last=Heckert |first=A. B. |author2=Spielmann, J. A. |author3=Lucas, S. G. |author4= Hunt, A. P. |year=2007 |chapter=Biostratigraphic utility of the Upper Triassic aetosaur ''Tecovasuchus'' (Archosauria:Stagonolepididae), an index taxon of St. Johnsian (Adamanian:Late Carnian) time |editor=Lucas, S.G. |editor2=Spielmann, J.A. |title=The Global Triassic |series=New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin '''41''' |publisher=New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science |location=Albuquerque, New Mexico |pages=51–57 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EGDmCQAAQBAJ&q=Heckert,+A.+B.%3B+Spielmann,+J.+A.%3B+Lucas,+S.+G.%3B+Hunt,+A.+P.+(2007).++Biostratigraphic+utility+of+the+Upper+Triassic+aetosaur+Tecovasuchus+(Archosauria+Stagonolepididae),+an+index+taxon+of+St.+Johnsian+(Adamanian+Late+Carnian)+time+.+In+Lucas,+S.G.%3B+Spielma&pg=PA51 |access-date=17 September 2020}}</ref><ref name=PWG05>{{cite book |last=Parker |first=W. G. |year=2005 |chapter=Faunal review of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation of Arizona |title=Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin '''11''' |editor1=McCord, R. D. |pages=34–54 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259567866 |access-date=17 September 2020}}</ref>

''Tecovasuchus'' was first recognized as a new taxon in 1995, although it was not named until the description of the [[type species]], ''T. chatterjeei'', in 2006.<ref name=LHH95>{{cite journal |last=Lucas |first=S. G. |author2=Heckert, A. B. |author3= Hunt, A. P. |year=1995 |title=Unusual aetosaur armor from the Upper Triassic of West Texas, U.S.A. |journal=Paläontologische Zeitschrift |volume=69 |issue=3–4 |pages=467–473 |doi=10.1007/bf02987807|bibcode=1995PalZ...69..467L |s2cid=128897501 }}</ref><ref name=MS06>{{cite journal |last=Martz |first=J. W. |author2=Small, B. J. |year=2006 |title=''Tecovasuchus chatterjeei'', a new aetosaur (Archosauria: Stagonolepididae) from the Tecovas Formation (Carnian, Upper Triassic) of Texas |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=308–320 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2006)26[308:tcanaa]2.0.co;2|s2cid=130818757 }}</ref> Before its description, specimens of ''Tecovasuchus'' were thought to belong to ''[[Paratypothorax]]'' or a ''Paratypothorax''-like aetosaur.<ref name=PWG05/><ref name=HAB97>{{cite thesis |last=Heckert |first=A. B. |year=1997 |title=Litho- and biostratigraphy of the lower Chinle Group, east-central Arizona and west-central New Mexico, with a description of a new theropod (Dinosauria:Theropoda) from the Bluewater Creek Formation |type=MSc thesis |publisher=University of New Mexico |location= Albuquerque|pages=278}}</ref> Several features of the osteoderms distinguish ''Tecovasuchus'' from other aetosaur genera, including dorsal paramedian osteoderms with strongly thickened and beveled posterior edges and ornamentation consisting of deep pits and radiating grooves, as well as tongue-shaped dorsal and plate-like ventrolateral flanges.

''Tecovasuchus'' is an [[Index fossil|index taxon]] for the St. Johnsian sub-LVF ([[land vertebrate faunachron]]) of the Adamanian LVF, and the presence of material belonging to the genus helps correlate different Late Triassic localities throughout the southwestern [[United States]].<ref name=HSLH07/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Aetosaurs of North America]] [[Category:Triassic Arizona]] [[Category:Triassic geology of New Mexico]] [[Category:Triassic geology of Texas]] [[Category:Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera]]