Life restoration of the head of Armadillosuchus. From Marinho and Carvalho (2009).

When I was trying to come up with a title for this post I almost went with “Armadillosuchus: An armored crocodyliform you wouldn’t want to mess with.” Obviously I changed my mind. Not only was the title too long, but it was redundant to boot. All crocodyliformes (which includes living crocodylians) are “armored” in that they have little bony plates called osteoderms (primarily on the dorsal, or top, side of their bodies) beneath their scales, which in turn overlay a layer of bony plates called osteoscutes. Crocodyliformes are tough!

The newly-described crocodyliform Armadillosuchus from the Late Cretaceous deposits of Brazil, however, was carrying a more