Walking with Dinosaurs: Redondasaurus

Redondasaurus gregorii
Named by A.P. Hunt and S.G. Lucas, 1993
Diet: Carnivore and Piscivore (Prey included fish such as the coelacanth Chinlea and the shark Xenacanthus; metoposaurs, early dinosaurs such as Coelophysis and other small that got to close to the water)
Type: Archosauriform reptile (phytosaur)
Size: 20.9 feet (6.4 meters) long and 20,000 lb.
Region: North America (New Mexico and Utah, USA)
Age: Late Triassic (221 to 201.3 million BC; Norian to Rhaetian)
Episode: New Blood (only in the book Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History) (identified as phytosaur)
Info: Nearly the length of today's largest crocodiles and hunting the Late Triassic waterways in what is now North America, Redondasaurus was the last and most advanced member of a group of large crocodile-like archosauriforms called phytosaurs that arose in the Late Carnian stage of the Triassic period, becoming top predators of the waterways and thrived throughout the Late Triassic, occupying a niche now taken by crocodilians until they died out during the Triassic-Jurassic Mass Extinction event. But despite their appearances, phytosaurs are not related to today's crocodilians and this is one of the major examples of convergent evolution, a process of which unrelated species share similar body forms and niches in similar environments.

Note: Another creature that didn't appear in the original series, but was included as a background creature in the book Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History and were described as phytosaurs. Since it was never mentioned what phytosaur species it was, I was having a hard time choosing which species since there were many different types in the Chinle Formation: Redondasaurus, Smilosuchus, Leptosuchus, and Machaeroprosopus. After figuring which one to choose, I decided to choose Redondasaurus because of its size and being advanced. Coloration based on the American alligator and Black caiman, since they're described in the book as having spiny, black backs.

Requested by ninjakingofhearts

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