Protorosaurus

Protorosaurus
Temporal range: Lopingian
~260–251 Ma
Fossil specimen, Teyler's Museum
Skull diagram
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archelosauria
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Genus: Protorosaurus
von Meyer 1830
Species:
P. speneri
Binomial name
Protorosaurus speneri
von Meyer 1830

Protorosaurus (from Greek: πρότερος próteros, 'earlier' and Greek: σαῦρος saûros, 'lizard')[1] is an extinct genus of reptile. Members of the genus lived during the late Permian period in what is now Germany and Great Britain. Once believed to have been an ancestor to lizards, Protorosaurus is now known to be one of the oldest and most primitive members of Archosauromorpha, the group that would eventually lead to archosaurs such as crocodilians and dinosaurs.[2]

  1. ^ Colbert, Edwin H. (Edwin Harris); Knight, Charles Robert (1951). The dinosaur book : the ruling reptiles and their relatives. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 153.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).