A NEW RAUISUCHIAN REPTILE (DIAPSIDA: ARCHOSAURIA) FROM THE LATE TRIASSIC OF POLAND TOMASZ SULEJ Instytut Paleobiologii, PAN, Twarda 51/55, 00–818 Warszawa, Poland, sulej@twarda.pan.pl ABSTRACT—A crushed rauisuchian skull and several vertebrae belonging to a single individual have been found in the Upper Triassic strata at Krasiejów, Poland, probably corresponding in age to the Lehrberg Beds (late Carnian) of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. A maxilla of Teratosaurus suevicus from the early Norian (Stubensandstein at Heslach) is similar to that of the Krasiejów specimen. The dorsal process of the maxilla is more oblique than in T. suevicus, the medial anterior foramen is set on the medial side, contrary to being exposed anteriorly in T. suevicus, and foramina for replacement teeth are not connected by a dental groove and are set in straight line. A new species of Teratosaurus is proposed to accommodate the Polish material, and a more complete diagnosis of the genus is presented. INTRODUCTION Rauisuchians were the largest terrestrial carnivores during the Middle and Late Triassic, recorded so far from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America (e.g., Gower, 2000). Some early forms possibly occur in the Early Triassic of Russia (Sennikov, 1995; Gower and Sennikow, 2000). Despite their im- portance, rauisuchians are poorly understood and much work remains to be done on their morphology and systematics (Gower, 2000). The only Late Triassic European rauisuchian known well enough to substantiate its taxonomic distribution is Teratosaurus suevicus Meyer, 1861, from the Stubensandstein of northern Württemberg (Long and Murry, 1995). The species and genus were originally based on a right maxilla. Galton (1985) referred an ilium from the same stratum, earlier described as belonging to Phytosaurus kapffi Meyer, 1861, to Teratosaurus suevicus. In 2000, during excavations organized by the Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, at the Krasiejów locality in the Opole Silesia (Dzik et al., 2000), two students, Michal Ploch and Magdalena Knap, found a small accumulation of rauisuchian bones that are the focus of this paper. In Krasiejów, fossils occur mainly in two horizons that have yielded fossil assemblages virtually identical in species composi- tion but basically different in their relative proportions of speci- men numbers. In the lower lacustrine horizon, bones of the metoposaurid amphibian Metoposaurus diagnosticus krasiejo- wensis Sulej, 2002a, and the phytosaur Paleorhinus cf. arenaceus Fraas, 1896 (Dzik et al., 2000), predominate. A new species of the aetosaur Stagonolepis (Dzik, 2001) and a new species of Cyclotosaurus (Sulej and Majer, 2005) are the second most abun- dant forms. In the upper deltaic horizon, the fossil assemblage is dominated by the aetosaur Stagonolepis and a dinosauromorph (Dzik, 2003). The accumulation of rauisuchian bones was found between the two main horizons, although a single tooth was found also in the upper horizon. Bones of the dinosauromorph also occur among the accumulation of the rauisuchian bones. The purpose of this paper is to describe the morphology and present a restoration of the skull of the new taxon from Kra- siejów, and to interpret its systematic affiliation. Institutional Abbreviations—BMNH, Natural History Mu- seum, London; TTUP, Texas Tech University, Lubbock; ZPAL, Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw; ISI, Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta. Anatomical Abbreviations—apmx, articulation for premax- illa; aec, articulation for ectopterygoid; aj, articulation for jugal; aq, articulation for quadrate; dg, dental grove; dp, descending process of nasal; f, medial anterior foramen; fct, foramen for chorda tymmpani; fo, lateral anterior foramen; hs, horizontal shelf; htf, additional lower temporal fenestra; j, jugal; l, lacrimal; m, maxilla; msf, median symphyseal facet; n, nasal; q, quadrate; qf, quadrate foramen, qj, quadratojugal; p, palatal process; pl, palatine; pm, premaxilla; pp, posterodorsal process of pre- maxilla; prf, prefrontal; pt, pterygoid; s, foramina for replace- ment teeth; san, angular; sq, squamosal; vew, vertical wall. SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY As discussed below, the maxilla of the Krasiejów specimen differs only slightly from the holotype of Teratosaurus suevicus. Although the available evidence on the German species is very limited, it is likely that both findings, close to each other both in time and geographic space, belong to the same local line- age. Therefore, they are classified in the same genus and the new data from Krasiejów it is used to amend its diagnosis. The suprageneric taxonomy of rauisuchians is confused (Gower, 2000) and their overall monophyly is in doubt (e.g., Parrish, 1993). For the purposes of this paper, three families are recog- nized—Rauisuchidae, Poposauridae, and Chatterjeeidae. Some authors (e.g., Parrish. 1993) further separate rauisuchids in this concept into Rauisuchidae and Prestosuchidae. It is beyond the scope of this paper to reassess the phylogeny of rauisuchians, and the features understood to diagnose these families are necessar- ily a mix of probable plesiomorphies and synapomorphies. ARCHOSAURIA Cope, 1869 RAUISUCHIA Huene, 1942 Family RAUISUCHIDAE Huene, 1942 The following characters indicate that Teratosaurus belongs to the Rauisuchia (Chatterjee and Majumdar, 1987): skull large, tall, with antorbital and accessory subnarial fenestrae; antorbital fossa strongly recessed; teeth robust, recurved, laterally com- pressed with serrated edges; lack of palatal dentition; ilium with supra-acetabular rugose ridge(s). Teratosaurus is placed in the family Rauisuchidae on the basis of the following characters: cervical centra short and high, similar to Postosuchus Chatterjee, 1985, Tikisuchus, Chatterjee and Majumdar, 1987, and Fasolasuchus Bonaparte, 1981, and in con- trast to the relatively longer cervicals of the poposaurid Pop- osaurus Mehl, 1915, and the chatterjeeid Chatterjeea Long and Murry, 1995. Further differences from poposaurids and chatter- jeeids include a supra-acetabular rugosity that lacks associated Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25(1):78–86, March 2005 © 2005 by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 78