''Ornithosuchus'' (meaning "bird crocodile") is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
genus of
pseudosuchians from the
Late Triassic (
Carnian)
Lossiemouth Sandstone of
Scotland. It was originally thought to be the ancestor to the
carnosaurian
dinosaurs (such as ''
Allosaurus''). However, it is now known to be more closely related to
crocodilians than to dinosaurs.
Description
Despite this relationship to crocodiles, ''Ornithosuchus'' was able to walk on its hind legs, like many dinosaurs. However, it probably spent most of its time on all fours, only moving
bipedally when it needed to run rapidly. Its skull also resembled those of
theropod dinosaurs, but more primitive features included the presence of five toes on each foot and a double row of armoured plates along the animal's back. ''Ornithosuchus'' has traditionally been estimated at a length of about around .
Classification
A single species of ''Ornithosuchus'' is recognized, ''O. woodwardi''. ''Ornithosuchus taylori'' is a synonym.
[M. Belén von Baczko and Martín D. Ezcurra (2016)
Taxonomy of the archosaur Ornithosuchus: reassessing Ornithosuchus woodwardi Newton, 1894 and Dasygnathoides longidens (Huxley 1877).
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 106(3): 199-205
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755691016000104
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/earth-and-environmental-science-transactions-of-royal-society-of-edinburgh/article/taxonomy-of-the-archosaur-ornithosuchus-reassessing-ornithosuchus-woodwardi-newton-1894-and-dasygnathoides-longidens-huxley-1877/FD5D5984B93F9136021A299D388CCBA8]
"''Dasygnathus''" ''longidens'' was in 1877 created by Thomas Huxley for a right maxilla from the Lossiemouth Sandstone found in 1857. The genus name ''
Dasygnathus'' had already been used for a
coleoptera
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
n insect, so Huxley's generic name was in 1961 changed to ''
Dasygnathoides
''Dasygnathoides'' is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian from the Late Triassic (Carnian) Lossiemouth Sandstone of Scotland.
Classification
"''Dasygnathus''" ''longidens'' was erected by Thomas Huxley for a maxilla from the Lossiemouth Sandstone ...
''. Although synonymized with ''Ornithosuchus'' by Walker (1964), a 2016 study found ''Dasygnathoides'' indeterminate beyond Pseudosuchia. The maximal length of ''Ornithosuchus'' was revised to 2.2 metres.
''Ornithosuchus'' is the
type genus of the
Ornithosuchidae
Ornithosuchidae is an extinct family of pseudosuchian archosaurs (distant relatives of modern crocodilians) from the Triassic period. Ornithosuchids were quadrupedal and facultatively bipedal (e.g. like chimpanzees), meaning that they had the abi ...
, a
family of facultatively biped carnivores that were geographically widespread during the Late Triassic. Two other genera are currently known, ''
Venaticosuchus
''Venaticosuchus'' is a genus of pseudosuchian archosaurs from the family Ornithosuchidae. Known from a single species, ''Venaticosuchus rusconii,'' this genus is described based on an incomplete skull and jaw (as well as a lost partial forelimb ...
'' and ''
Riojasuchus
''Riojasuchus'' is an extinct genus of Late Triassic ( Norian) quadrupedal archosaur. ''Riojasuchus'' is a member of Ornithosuchidae, a family of facultatively bipedal carnivores that were geographically widespread during the Late Triassic. Tw ...
''.
References
Sources
* Walker, A.D. (1964)
"Triassic reptiles from the Elgin area: ''Ornithosuchus'' and the origin of carnosaurs" ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences'', 248(744): 53-134.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q133134
Ornithosuchids
Triassic archosaurs
Late Triassic reptiles of Europe
Fossils of Scotland
Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera