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Mastodonsaurus — Description
A Batrachotomus moves through the river holding on to its latest kill, but suddenly it disturbs a giant Mastodonsaurus lurking in the water.

This scene takes place in what is now Germany during the Middle Triassic around 235 million years ago, a time before dinosaurs took over the role of the dominant animal group.

Mastodonsaurus was a truly enormous, 6 m (20 ft) long Triassic creature with a massive, flattened head that was 1.5 m (5 ft) long. The jaws were lined with small teeth and a pair of larger fangs in the lower jaw that fit into openings in the upper jaw when the mouth was closed. Despite the resemblance to crocodiles and a somewhat similar lifestyle, it was actually a temnospondyl amphibian and thus more closely related to frogs and salamanders. Due to its size, it was probably one of the top predators of its time. Its larvae were probably quite similar in appearance to a full-grown Mastodonsaurus, just smaller, and likely fell prey to other predators like Batrachotomus.

Batrachotomus, meaning "frog slayer", probably preyed upon amphibians like Mastodonsaurus, because skeletons of Mastodonsaurus were found with bite marks that match Batrachotomus. Batrachotomus was an archosaur, the group which also includes dinosaurs and crocodiles. It could reach a length of 6 m (20 ft) and was a an agile terrestrial predator.

Digital Painting by 'Paleo Pete' Peter Nickolaus, 2023. E-Mail: contact.paleopete@gmail.com