| Armadillosuchus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous | |
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| An artist's illustration of Armadillosuchus arrudai | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Genus: | †Armadillosuchus Marinho & Carvalho, 2009 |
| Binomial name | |
| †Armadillosuchus arrudai Marinho & Carvalho, 2009 | |
Armadillosuchus arrudai (Armadillo Crocodile) was a mid sized, extinct genus of sphagesaurid crocodylomorph. It was described in February 2009 from the Late Cretaceous Bauru Basin of Brazil. Armadillosuchus was estimated to be 2 meters (6.5 feet) in length and weighed 120 kg.
Description[]
Armadillosuchus, like most other sphagesaurids, shares a number of mammal-like features in its jaws and teeth, although it is unrelated to mammals. Armadillosuchus is especially mammal-like in that it had heavy body armor, which is characterized by rigid shields and flexible bands on its back, unlike the traditional osteoderm scutes that line the backs of most crurotarsans and more similar to that of an armadillo, hence its name. Because of its unique morphology, Armadillosuchus is believed to have had a terrestrial and quite possibly fossorial lifestyle.
Armadillosuchus arrudai
