Ornithosuchidae

Ornithosuchids
Temporal range: Late Triassic, 228–203.6 Ma
Life restoration of Ornithosuchus scavenging on the rhynchosaur Hyperodapedon
Scientific classification Edit this 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?
†Dynamosuchus[1]
†Ornithosuchus
†Riojasuchus
†Venaticosuchus

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]

  1. ^ a b Müller, Rodrigo T.; Von Baczko, M. Belén; Desojo, Julia B.; Nesbitt, Sterling J. (31 January 2020). "The first ornithosuchid from Brazil and its macroevolutionary and phylogenetic implications for Late Triassic faunas in Gondwana" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 65. doi:10.4202/app.00652.2019.
  2. ^ Baczko, M. Belén von; Ezcurra, Martín D. (2013-01-01). "Ornithosuchidae: a group of Triassic archosaurs with a unique ankle joint". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 379 (1): 187–202. Bibcode:2013GSLSP.379..187B. doi:10.1144/SP379.4. hdl:11336/41617. ISSN 0305-8719. S2CID 130687362.
  3. ^ Huene, F. von. 1908. "Die Dinosaurier der europäischen Triasformation mit Berücksichtigung der aussereuropäischen Vorkommnisse". Geologische und Paläontologische Abhandlungen 1(Suppl.): 1–419