| Compsosaurus Temporal range: Late Triassic,
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| 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 | |
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.
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]
- ^ Phytosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide from Dinosauria.com
- ^ Leidy. J. (1856). Notice of some remains of extinct vertebrated animals. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 163-165
- ^ Compsosaurus at GBIF.org
- ^ Rees, T. (compiler) (2020). The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera. Available from http://www.irmng.org at VLIZ. Accessed 2020-03-24
- ^ GBIF Secretariat (2019). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2020-07-15.
- ^ Compsosaurus at Paleofile.org