As we know by now, pseudosuchians ruled the earth during the Triassic period, slotting into many different niches and utilizing many different body shapes than just the semi-aquatic crocodilians we have today. Poposauroids especially filled many of the niches dinosaurs would later come to fill, and even resembled them. Our previously visited Lotosaurus was convergent with hadrosaurs and stegosaurs. Poposaurus was convergent with theropod carnivores. The shuvosaurids resembled ornithomimid theropods, and one shuvosaurid in particular: Sillosuchus longicervix, reached sizes that would make the early sauropodomorphs tremble.
Sillosuchus lived in Late Triassic Argentina. The holotype, while still quite large for a shuvosaurid, was about 3 m (9.8 ft) long. But then, a finding of a large Sillosuchus-like neck vertebrae, as well as fragments of the tibia and ankle, pushed this animal’s size estimates up to 9 to 10 m (30 to 33 ft) in length, making it the tallest terrestrial pseudosuchian known. It would have had a beak like its relatives Effigia and Shuvosaurus, and likely used it to shear off plant material, reaching higher into the trees than any pseudosuchian would have ever hoped to dream. And since Sillosuchus came first, this makes sauropods the copy-cats!
Sillosuchus was found in the Cancha de Bocha member of the Ischigualasto Formation, which was at the time characterized by a dry climate with meandering rivers and seasonal rainfall. Sillosuchus would have lived alongside other dinosaur-like pseudosuchians, including the armoured Aetosauroides, the small, agile Trialestes, and the apex predator Saurosuchus. Dinosaurs would have included the early sauropodomorphs Chromogisaurus, Panphagia, and Eoraptor, and the early theropods Eodromaeus, Sanjuansaurus, and Herrerasaurus. Other reptiles would have included the silesaur Ignotosaurusm, the mysterious Incertovenator, the crocodile-like Proterochampsa and Pseudochampsa, the bizarre rhyncosaur Hyperodapedon, and the lepidosauromorph Taytalura. Synapsids like cynodonts and dicynodonts were also common here, and temnospondyls lived within the meandering rivers.
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Archovember day 24! Sillosuchus longicervix! A Pseudosuchian from the middle Triassic! I believe this is the second Poposauroid that Ive drawn for this batch. The holotype of this animal was only the size of a large dog, however they think it could have grown to massive sizes of about 35 ft (10.6 m) long.
Sillosuchus taking a nap under a tree near an oasis
Suchomimus hunting some fish
Shuvosaurus siblings exploring the forest undergrowth
Fukuivenator rivals fighting for dominance
I feel like 20 minute intervals is not the best way to develop a new artstyle, but i felt adventurous :3
i referenced some pics of landscapes to help make each one look different cause i am not super great at painting backgrounds X3c
