A depiction of Sonselasuchus by paleoartist Gabriel Ugueto

The discovery of a new species of bipedal crocodile-relative from the Triassic Period was recently published. The find came from a fossil bone bed within Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park. The new species is named Sonselasuchus cedrus and is believed to be a close relative to another Triassic bipedal pseudosuchian from West Texas known as Shuvosaurus.

Paleo-artist Gabriel Ugueto, who was commmissioned to produce an illustration of what Sonselasuchus would have looked like, described the creature in a social media post today:

Sonselasuchus was a small animal and it is known from more than 30 individuals, many of which are juveniles. It seems that in its early years Sonselasuchus was primarily quadrupedal changing to a bipedal stance as it grew up.

The full manuscript description of Sonselasuchus is currently available online from the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The manuscript was authored by Elliot Smith, a graduate student at the University of Washington, and Christian Sidor, Ph.D., Smith’s advisor.