Shuvosaurus, first impressions

[David Peters <davidrpeters@earthlink.net>]

I just had my first look at Shuvosaurus, care of D. Glut's Dinosaur
Encyclopedia. While I haven't performed a cladistic analysis on it, a
quick run through my catalog of Triassic diapsids narrows sister
candidates down to Ticinosuchus. If you use the venerable Krebs
illustration of Ticinosuchus you won't or may not see the similarities.
Rather, reconstruct a new skull from the insitu specimen (complete but
rather cracked up) and hopefully it will all come together.

Sure Ticinosuchus has teeth  and Shuvosaurus doesn't, but all we're
looking for is a best match for now. We'll get better matches in the
future. Ticinosuchus is (surprise) basal to Aetosauria, so finding
another branch of herbivore here should not come as much of a shock.

I can also see why Chatterjee saw ornithomimid characters. Timing is off
though. Too bad the post-crania is not better known.

If anyone has some good jpegs or wants to fax some info, I'd be glad to
have it. I'd like to learn more about this taxon. Or if anyone has a
better sister taxon, let's hear it.

David Peters
St. Louis