Ornithosuchidae
Extinct family of reptiles / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ornithosuchidae is an extinct family of pseudosuchian archosaurs (distant relatives of modern crocodilians) from the Triassic period. Ornithosuchids were quadrupedal and facultatively bipedal (e.g. like chimpanzees), meaning that they had the ability to walk on two legs for short periods of time. They had distinctive, downturned snouts, unique, "crocodile-reversed" ankle bones, and several other features that distinguish them from other archosaurs. Ornithosuchids were geographically widespread during the Carnian and Norian stages of the Late Triassic with members known from Argentina, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. Four genera, comprising Ornithosuchus, Venaticosuchus, Dynamosuchus,[1] and Riojasuchus are presently known.[2] The family was first erected by German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene in 1908.[3]
Ornithosuchids | |
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Life restoration of Ornithosuchus scavenging on the rhynchosaur Hyperodapedon | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Archosauria |
Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
Family: | †Ornithosuchidae von Huene, 1908 |
Type species | |
†Ornithosuchus woodwardi Newton, 1894 | |
Genera | |
†Aenigmaspina? |