Ornithosuchus

ornithosuchus

In Depth        Although the last part of the name,‭ ‬suchus,‭ ‬translates to English as crocodile,‭ ‬Ornithosuchus was actually an archosaur.‭ ‬These were the dominant reptiles of the Triassic some of which would diverge into true crocodiles,‭ ‬while others would take different paths to evolve into the dinosaurs.‭ ‬In fact the long hind legs that would … Read more

Ctenosauriscus

In Depth        Ctenosauriscus is the type specimen of the Ctenosauriscidae,‭ ‬a group of sail‭ ‬backed rauisuchian archosaurs that also include others such as Arizonasaurus.‭ ‬Ctenosauriscidae however is‭ ‬only known from post cranial remains that reveal it had a large sail on its back.‭ ‬Like in related reptiles,‭ ‬this sail was supported by the enlarged neural … Read more

Shuvosaurus

In Depth        Shuvosaurus was described from the discovery of a skull that had no teeth but a well-developed beak-like anterior portion.‭ ‬Because of this,‭ ‬Shuvosaurus was at the time considered to possibly be an ancient ancestor to the ornithomimosaurs,‭ ‬a group of dinosaurs that at the time of writing are only known from Cretaceous era … Read more

Xilousuchus

In Depth        Xilousuchus is one of the oldest known archosaurs and like many other primitive forms it has a sail upon its back.‭ ‬This has seen Xilousuchus placed within the Ctenosauriscidae group of sail backed rauisuchian archosaurs that are typified by the genus Ctenosauriscus,‭ ‬although Xilousuchus is actually thought to be more closely related to … Read more