3D WHOLE-BODY RECONSTRUCTION OF THE PSEUDOSUCHIAN GRACILISUCHUS STIPANICICORUM ROMER, 1972, FROM MICROCT DATA

KEEBLE, EMILY; LECUONA, AGUSTINA; HUTCHINSON, JOHN R.

Congreso; European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists; 2021

The small, terrestrial pseudosuchian (crocodile-line archosaur), Gracilisuchus stipanicicorum from theLate Triassic of Argentina, is known from well-preserved, articulated materialfrom eight specimens (PULR, MCZVP, CRILAR-PV). Although this material hasalready provided great insight into the anatomy and palaeobiology of thisanimal, even more can be gleaned through the use of microCT scanning andfurther digital preparation of the fossils into an articulated 3D model. Here,we present the first digital model of this kind of Gracilisuchus, a composite of the best preserved elements of fourspecimens, focussing on the most complete, PVL 4597. A small amount of additionalmaterial from the related pseudosuchians Erpetosuchusand Batrachotomus has also been addedto fill in gaps in the forelimb and shoulder girdle where Gracilisuchus material is unknown. We take this opportunity toexplain the methods and assumptions used to construct our novel 3D model. Our reconstructionis being prepared as a biomechanical musculoskeletal model that can be used toassess questions of Gracilisuchus' palaeobiologyand palaeoecology, such as those about its enigmatic locomotor ability. Theresults from these analyses will be used alongside those obtained from similarmodels of other extinct and extant archosaurs to compare locomotor ability andfunction in this group in order to characterise their functional disparity, andevolution in the crocodile-line archosaurs.