Protome batalaria
species of reptile
Protome is an extinct genus of parasuchid phytosaur from the Late Triassic of Arizona, represented by a single species, Protome batalaria. It is known from a single holotype incomplete, partially disarticulated skull and left lower jaw called PEFO 34034 from the Upper Lot's Wife beds, Sonsela Member of the Chinle Formation in Petrified Forest National Park. The skull was discovered in 2004 by Michelle Stocker and Bill Parker and was described by them as a specimen of Smilosuchus adamanensis (then a species of Leptosuchus). It was placed in the new genus Protome in 2012. The genus name Protome is the Greek word for an animal's face. The specific name batalaria is the Latin word for battleship, which is a reference to Battleship NW, the locality within Petrified Forest where the skull was found.
Description
Protome has a long, narrow, tubular-shaped snout. It has a partial rostral crest at the back of the snout, a feature which it shares with phytosaurs like Smilosuchus adamanensis, Pravusuchus, and Leptosuchus, but which is not as prominent as it is in other Smilosuchus species and some Pseudopalatus species. It lacks the premaxillary crest along the midline of the snout that is present in Leptosuchus studeri and Mystriosuchus westphali. Many characteristics that associate Protome with other phytosaurs can be found in its squamosal bone, which makes up the cheek region and extends behind the main portion of the skull.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Protome batalaria” is species of reptile. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Protome, batalaria and species, not as a finished interpretation.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 30, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q28598688. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2004 and 2012.
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This entry incorporates text from “Protome batalaria” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.