Asilisaurus

Asilisaurus Temporal range: Middle Triassic, 245 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauriformes
Clade:	†Silesauridae
Genus:	†Asilisaurus Nesbitt et al., 2010
Species:	† A. kongwe
Binomial name
Asilisaurus kongwe Nesbitt et al., 2010

Asilisaurus (/ɑːˌsiːliːˈsɔːrəs/ a-SEE-lee-SAWR-əs; from Swahili, asili ("ancestor" or "foundation"), and Greek, σαυρος (sauros, "lizard") is an extinct genus of silesaurid archosaur. It is one of the oldest known animals on the dinosaur/pterosaur side of the archosaurian tree (the Avemetatarsalia), dating to about 245 million years ago.^[1]

Fossils were uncovered in Tanzania and date back to the Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic. It was described in 2010 by a team of researchers from the United States, Germany, and South Africa, in the journal Nature; the type species is A. kongwe. It is the first example of an avian-line radiation during the Anisian, with the diversification of archosaurs during this time previously only documented from crocodylian-line archosaurs. It was the first non-dinosaurian dinosauriform recovered from Africa.^[2]

Asilisaurus measured from 1 to 3 metres (3 to 10 ft) long and 0.5 to 1 metre (2 to 3 ft) high at the hip, and weighed 10 to 30 kilograms (20 to 70 lb).^[2]

References