Stratiotosuchus (from Greek, στρατιώτης (stratiōtēs, "soldier") and σοῦχος (suchos, "crocodile")) is an extinct genus of baurusuchid mesoeucrocodylian from the Adamantina Formation in Brazil.

The ischium bone, which extends backward from the hip, has a large projection that in life would serve as a strong attachment site for the puboischiotibialis muscle.

When compared to crocodilians, the top of the femur of Stratiotosuchus is rotated toward the front, so that the femoral head faces backward rather than medially inward.

The large articular surface on the head of the humerus implies that the arms had a wide range of movement, but restricted to a parasagittal axis.

Modern crocodilians also have a deltopectoral crest, but it is positioned laterally and anchors to muscles that pull the arms up to the sides, not forward.

The muscle thought to have facilitated forward movement in Stratiotosuchus is called the deltoideus clavicularis; it is also present in modern crocodilians, which use it for high walking.

[5] Other features that suggest an erect posture are tightly clustered metacarpals forming narrow hands well-suited for walking and a backward-projecting calcaneal tuberosity in the ankle, which would have attached to muscles that fixed the lower limb in a parasagittal axis.

[9] Stratiotosuchus and Baurusuchus both belong to a large clade called Metasuchia, which includes living crocodilians and many extinct relatives extending back into the Jurassic.

Below are several possibilities that have been uncovered in various phylogenetic analyses: Montefeltro et al. (2011) found support for baurusuchids as advanced notosuchians, and divided the family into two subfamilies, Baurusuchinae and Pissarrachampsinae.

Below is the cladogram from Montefeltro et al. (2011):[10] Notosuchus Mariliasuchus Armadillosuchus Cynodontosuchus Pissarrachampsa Wargosuchus Stratiotosuchus B. albertoi B. salgadoensis B. pachecoi Another phylogenetic analysis of baurusuchids was conducted by Riff and Kellner (2011).

Below is the cladogram from that study:[5] Araripesuchus Uruguaysuchus Candidodon Libycosuchus Simosuchus Chimaerasuchus Malawisuchus Notosuchus Mariliasuchus Comahuesuchus Adamantinasuchus Armadillosuchus Sphagesaurus Stratiotosuchus Baurusuchus Lomasuchus Stolokrosuchus Bretesuchus Sebecus Uberabasuchus Hamadasuchus Neosuchia Based on the types of deposits in the Adamantina Formation, Stratiotosuchus most likely lived alongside a river system with many small ephemeral lakes.

In Stratiotosuchus, a roughly surfaced region on the upper part of the femur is analogous to the accessory trochanter common to tetanuran theropods.

[5] Pseudosuchians superficially resembling Stratiotosuchus were the top predators of the Triassic period, until they were decimated by the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event and replaced by large theropods.