Lewisuchus
| Lewisuchus Temporal range: Middle Triassic, Ladinian | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauriformes |
| Clade: | †Silesauridae |
| Genus: | †Lewisuchus Romer, 1972 |
| Species: | † L. admixtus |
| Binomial name | |
| Lewisuchus admixtus Romer, 1972 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
?Pseudolagosuchus major Arcucci, 1987 | |
Lewisuchus is a genus of archosaur that lived during the Middle Triassic (Ladinian); it was a silesaurid dinosauriform, a member of the group of reptiles which lead to the dinosaurs. Lewisuchus was about three feet long. Fossils have been found in Argentina. Some of the fossils originally assigned to Lewisuchus have since been moved to other genera, and the remaining portions closely resemble those of Pseudolagosuchus. A 2010 study in the Journal Nature indicated that the two may be synonymous. They were approximately the same size and came from the same locality and strata, but the fossil material is fragmentary and there is very little overlapping material. Since Lewisuchus was described 15 years before Pseudolagosuchus, if it is shown the two are synonymous (through the discovery of additional fossils) the name Lewisuchus would have priority.[1]
References
- ↑ Nesbitt, Sterling J., Sidor, Christian A., Irmis, Randall B., Angielczyk, Kenneth D., Smith, Roger M.H. and Tsuji, Linda A. (2010) "Ecologically distinct dinosaurian sister group shows early diversification of Ornithodira." Nature 464(7285):95-8 Supplement