Desmatosuchus search for edible roots in a prehistoric ?
15-foot-long, 750 pound aetosaurian archosaurs of the genus Desmatosuchus search for edible roots amidst cycads and ferns 230 million years ago in what is today Texas. Armored plates and spikes, with some spikes up to 18 inches long, helped protect this otherwise vulnerable crocodile-like herbivore from the many terrestrial predators of the period including rauisuchian archosaurs like Postosuchus. Desmatosuchus is also notable for its unusual pig-like head and shovel-like snout which were likely well-suited for uprooting small plants
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Aetosauria Amniote Archosaur Archosauria Backbone Beginnings Crocodile Cycad Desmatosuchus Diapsid Ecosystem Fern Grazing Ladinian Lush Osteoderm Paleobotany Paleogeography Roaming Savanna Scute Spiked Spine Terrain Triassic Vegetation
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