Named By: | R. R. Schoch & H. D. Sues in 2013 |
Time Period: | Middle Triassic |
Location: | Germany - Erfurt Formation |
Size: | unavailable |
Diet: | Carnivore |
Fossil(s): | Most of the post cranial skeleton, skull and neck are still unknown |
Classification: | | Chordata | Reptilia | Archosauriformes | Doswelliidae | |
Jaxtasuchus is an extinct genus of armoured doswelliid archosauriform reptile known from the Middle Triassic (Ladinian stage) of the Erfurt Formation, Germany. The type species Jaxtasuchus salomoni was named in 2013 on the basis of several skeletons and partial remains. Like other doswelliids, it is heavily armored with many rows of bony plates called osteoderms covering its body. Jaxtasuchus is the first doswelliid known from Europe and is most closely related to Doswellia from the Late Triassic of the eastern United States. Fossils have been found in aquatic mudstones alongside fossils of temnospondyl amphibians, crustaceans, and mollusks, suggesting that Jaxtasuchus was semiaquatic like modern crocodilians.