Compsosaurus

Compsosaurus
Temporal range: Late Triassic, 205.6–201.6 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this 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]

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