| Elessaurus Temporal range: Early Triassic,
| |
|---|---|
| |
| The holotype specimen, UFSM 11471 | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
| Genus: | †Elessaurus De-Oliveira et al., 2020 |
| Type species | |
| †Elessaurus gondwanoccidens De-Oliveira et al., 2020
| |
Elessaurus is an extinct genus of archosauromorph from the Early Triassic of Brazil. It contains a single species, Elessaurus gondwanoccidens. It possessed a variety of features common to basal archosauromorphs, particularly basal tanystropheids such as Macrocnemus. However, it is uncertain whether Elessaurus was a particularly close relative of tanystropheids, and it might instead be closer to other major archosauromorph clades. The genus name refers to "Elessar", an alternate name of the character Aragorn from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.[1]
- ^ De-Oliveira, Tiane M.; Pinheiro, Felipe L.; Da-Rosa, Átila Augusto Stock; Dias-Da-Silva, Sérgio; Kerber, Leonardo (2020-04-08). "A new archosauromorph from South America provides insights on the early diversification of tanystropheids". PLOS ONE. 15 (4): e0230890. Bibcode:2020PLoSO..1530890D. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0230890. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 7141609. PMID 32267850.