Protome batalaria
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Protome Temporal range: Late Triassic |
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| Life restoration of Protome batalaria | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Phytosauria |
| Family: | Phytosauridae |
| Genus: |
†Protome Stocker, 2012 |
| Type species | |
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†Protome batalaria Stocker, 2012 |
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Protome is an extinct genus of phytosaurid 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 and described 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.
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.
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