Compsosaurus

Not to be confused with Compsognathus or Compsosuchus.

Compsosaurus (meaning "elegant lizard"^[1]) is an extinct genus of phytosaur, a crocodile-like reptile that lived during the Triassic. Its fossils have been found in North Carolina. The type species, Compsosaurus priscus, was named by American paleontologist Joseph Leidy in 1856,^[2] although other sources say 1857.^[3][4][5] Compsosaurus may have been the same animal as the related Belodon.

Compsosaurus Temporal range: Late Triassic, 205.6–201.6 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauromorpha
Clade:	Archosauriformes
Order:	†Phytosauria
Family:	†Parasuchidae
Genus:	†Compsosaurus Leidy, 1856
Type species
†Compsosaurus priscus Leidy, 1856
Synonyms
Belodon priscus? Leidy, 1856

Only four teeth are known, discovered in the Carnian-Rhaetian-aged coal fields of Chatham County, North Carolina (probably Red Sandstone Formation) and the New Oxford Formation of Pennsylvania.^[6]