Batrachotomus – A Fearsome Triassic Predator

By | November 2nd, 2016|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Drawings, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page|0 Comments

Batrachotomus kupferzellensis

An email from a young fan of prehistoric animals listed their favourite non-dinosaurs.  Top of the list was the formidable Triassic carnivore Batrachotomus, fossils of which have been found in Germany.  Batrachotomus was not a dinosaur, (a point made in the email by the aspiring junior scientist who contacted Everything Dinosaur), but it was a member of the same clade of diapsid reptiles, the archosaurs (Archosauria).  Roughly the size of a modern saltwater crocodile, this terrestrial predator was one of the largest carnivores known from the Middle and Late Triassic of Europe.

Batrachotomus

In the email, a fact sheet about Batrachotomus was requested, we duly obliged and we also emailed over some drawing materials of Triassic reptiles, including a scale drawing of Batrachotomus for this young person to colour in.

Team members try to encourage budding young palaeontologists.  Staff were happy to send out a fact sheet and drawing materials.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s website: Everything Dinosaur.

Despatching Drawing Materials

Everything Dinosaur’s Illustration of Batrachotomus

Batrachotomus drawing.

A scale drawing of the Triassic reptile Batrachotomus.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Batrachotomus Fossils

Fossils ascribed to this genus have been found at several locations in southern Germany.  The first fossils were discovered in 1977, although it was not named and scientifically described until 1999.

For models and replicas of ancient archosaurs and other prehistoric creatures: Deluxe CollectA Prehistoric Animal Figures.