Fun Lagosuchus Facts For Kids

The Lagosuchus is a doubtful genus of the lightly built Avemetatarsalian archosaur that belonged to the phylum Chordata and was believed to be a dinosaur community from the middle Triassic period of dinosaurian precursors. Due to the fragmented well-preserved holotype skeletons found in the Chañares Formation of Argentina, are considered close relatives of the dinosaurs as a community member of the Dinosauromorpha.

This animal is known for its limited remains such as its hind libs, shoulder blade, and vertebrates. The structure of the bones shows that their legs were long and slender with well-developed feet of the pseudo Lagosuchus similar to many other dinosaur communities. It suggests that these creatures were bipedal and were able to run fast like their closely related genus. It was an agile predator which used its speed to chase its prey and also to evade its predators. Because of the doubtful genus, a second species was assigned to this genus known as Lagosuchus lilloensis, which was later reclassified as Marasuchus in the year 1994 by Paul Sereno.

Lagosuchus is one among many archosaurs from the early Dinosauromorpha that displays the origin of all dinosaurs. The holotype skeletons of this animal were found from the Talampaya National Park in Argentina and they were named in the year 1971 by Romer, so they are sometimes also known as Lagosuchus Talampayensis Romer.

If you liked these true facts about the Lagosuchus, then you'll surely like these facts about Crichtonsaurus and Nanshiungosaurus too!

How do you pronounce 'Lagosuchus'?

The Lagosuchus pronunciation goes as 'Lag-o-sook-us'.

What type of dinosaur was a Lagosuchus?

It is a lightly built Avemetatarsalian archosaur, that was alive during the late Triassic period of Argentina. These theropods were the members of a dinosaur clade known as Dinosauriformes which were distinguished by three-toed limbs and hollow bones. The species of Lagosuchus went extinct during the middle Triassic period along with the second species Marasuchus.

In which geological period did the Lagosuchus roam the earth?

Lagosuchus were considered to belong to the Ladinian stage of the Middle Triassic period of Argentina and were first described to occur between the Lagosuchus time period of 229-237 million years ago.

When did the Lagosuchus become extinct?

The species Lagosuchus talampayensis became extinct during the middle Triassic period of Argentina around 230 million years ago.

Where did a Lagosuchus live?

The remains of the genus Lagosuchus talampayensis were discovered from the early Carnian age Los Chañares Formation in Argentina from the Ladinian age of the middle Triassic period classification.

What was a Lagosuchus's habitat?

The Lagosuchus habitat is unknown as they went extinct during the late Triassic period along with other genera that are close relatives and not much content is available to make estimations.

Who did a Lagosuchus live with?

Due to the lack of data, it is unknown whether the Lagusuchus lived alone, in pairs, or in groups. As the skeleton of these specimens that were found from the early Carnian period Los Chañares Formation in Argentina, it indicates that these creatures lived alone.

How long did a Lagosuchus live?

The exact lifespan of the Lagosuchus dinosaurs is unknown to the world as they went extinct from the face of the earth millions of years ago. The exact Lagosuchus extinction date is still unknown.

How did they reproduce?

Due to the extinction of the genus Lagosuchus and lack of information about their reproduction, it is difficult to know they mate, but it is believed that the specimen lays eggs like most other dinosaurs with regards to the fossil remains discoveries.

What did a Lagosuchus look like?

Based on the fragmented holotype skeleton of Lagosuchus found from the early Carnian age Los Chañares Formation in Argentina, these specimens were small-sized lightly built archosaurs, with long slender legs and well-developed hind legs similar to certain dinosaurs. These animals had short forelimbs and long shin bones which helped them to be agile bipedal which were generally adapted for running. According to Gregory S. Paul the Langosuchus were the smallest Triassic archosaurs when compared to other skeleton specimens that were found.

Lagosuchus share many traits with the closely related new genus Marasuchus, the dorsal vertebrae possessed centra which was three times longer than their tails. These creatures had neural spines which were similar to the other species of silesaurid families of the Triassic dinosauriforms. The shoulder blade of these creatures was narrow but slightly expanded upper tips and the humorous was also narrow with almost triangular deltopectoral crests.

The hip and ankle of a Langusuchus were similar to the Marasuchus and the femur was elongated with a slightly buried femoral head which also possessed an anterior trochanter like a knob.

The Lagosuchus skull has not been found yet so there is no record of their head size.

How many bones did a Lagosuchus have?

The total number of bones a Lagosuchus had in their body is unknown due to the incomplete Lagosuchus homologous structure and hollow skeletons that were found from the early Carnian age Los Chañares Formation in Argentina. Though it is clear that these specimens had longer hind limb and short forelimbs and their dorsal vertebrae possessed centra which were three times longer than the tails, the neural spine consists of osteoderms, two large hip vertebrae, shoulder blade, humerus, radius, and ulna.

How did they communicate?

Due to the lack of data, the communication process of the Lagosuchus is still unknown.

How big was a Lagosuchus?

Lagusuchus was a small-sized Avemetatarsalian archosaur that obtained a total length of 20 in (51 cm), they were similar in length size to a ferret or a weasel.

How fast could a Lagosuchus move?

It is believed that the Lagosuchus were fast creatures due to their slender legs and well-developed feet. The accurate speed of their movement is unknown due to them being extinct, though it is assumed that these creatures moved on all fours as well as bipedal.

How much did a Lagosuchus weigh?

This Avemetatarsalian archosaur, Lagosuchus used to weigh around 5.8 oz (167 g).

What were the male and female names of the species?

No specific name has been assigned or allotted to either sex of this genus.

What would you call a baby Lagosuchus?

A baby Lagosuchus is called a baby dinosaur as there is no specific name assigned to them.

What did they eat?

Lagosuchus was known to be a carnivore and mostly fed on other small animals and birds.

How aggressive were they?

Due to the lack of data, it is impossible to say whether this animal was aggressive or peaceful creatures.

Did you know...

As most of the dinosaurs appear to be closely similar to the crocodiles who moved on all fours, the main three anatomic features that both dinosaurs and crocodiles share are a skull with two diapsids, the socketed teeth, and another hole in their lower jaw.

The two species Lagosuchus and the Marasuchus (formally known as L. lilloensis) were intermediate between the warm-blooded dinosaurs and cold-blooded reptiles.

In the year 1975, Jose Bonaparte reviewed the larger well-preserved specimen of which was added as a new species known as L. lilloensis and synonymized both the species considering Lagosuchus an intermediate between saurischian dinosaurs and pseudosuchians dinosaurs. In the year 1994, when both Andrea Arcucci and Paul Sereno reclassified L. lilloensis as a new genus, Marasuchus.

The tracks of dinosauromorph have been detected across the world from Poland to Argentina. Brusatte with the help of Richard Butler and Grzegorz Niedzwiedzki has uncovered three sets of prints from the Holy Cross Mountains in Poland.

The earliest aspects of the original dinosaurs are almost impossible to identify, as it can never be known with confidence that the available specimens are from the last or the first of these creatures.

What do scientists believe about the Lagosuchus?

Scientists have found only fragmented fossils of the Lagosuchus, which does not help in determining the formal genus of this species; the name Lagosuchus was given to these creatures, which in zoological nomenclature, means unknown or doubtful. The meaning of the name Lagosuchus is Rabbit crocodile which was given to them due to their small size, the homologous structures for Lagosuchus that appears generally similar to a crocodile, and the ability to walk as a biped with the help of long slender legs and well-developed hind legs.

Was the Lagosuchus a dinosaur ancestor?

Lagosuchus was a dinosaur ancestor as it was one among the other closely related dinosaur community like Lagerpeton among the extensive group of dinosaurs known as dinosauromorphs that evolved million years ago during the middle Triassic period. Transitional fossils of both Marosuchus and Lagosuchus exhibits characteristics that are similar to both an ancestral group and its derived descendant group.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other creatures from our Atrociraptor facts, or Homalocephale facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable dinosaur fight coloring pages.

Image one by Ogmios.

Image two by ArthurWeasley.