| Hesperosuchus Temporal range: Late Triassic,
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|---|---|
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| Hesperosuchus agilis | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauria |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Clade: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Genus: | †Hesperosuchus Colbert, 1952 |
| Species: | †H. agilis
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| Binomial name | |
| †Hesperosuchus agilis Colbert, 1952
| |
Hesperosuchus is an extinct genus of crocodylomorph reptile that contains a single species, Hesperosuchus agilis. Remains of this pseudosuchian have been found in Late Triassic (Carnian) strata from Arizona and New Mexico.[1] Because of similarities in skull and neck anatomy and the presence of hollow bones Hesperosuchus was formerly thought to be an ancestor of later carnosaurian dinosaurs, but based on more recent findings and research it is now known to be more closely related to crocodilians rather than dinosaurs.[2][3]
- ^ Colbert, E. H. 1952. A pseudosuchian reptile from Arizona. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 99:561–592.
- ^ Brinkman, D. 1981. The origin of the crocodiloid tarsi and the interrelationships of thecodontian archosaurs. Breviora 464:1–23.
- ^ Benton, M. J. and J. M. Clark. 1988. Archosaur phylogeny and the relationships of the Crocodylia. pp. 295–338. In M. J. Benton (ed.). The Phylogeny and Classification of the Tetrapods Vol. 1.Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds. Clarendon Press, Oxford.