Poposauroid

History

Brusatte et al. (2010) conducted a phylogenetic study of archosaurs that resulted in a grouping referred to as Poposauroidea. Unlike many recent studies, they found Rauisuchia to be monophyletic, consisting of two major clades: Rauisuchoidea and Poposauroidea. The monophyly of Rauisuchia was not strongly supported in the analysis of Brusatte et al. They noted that if their tree was enlarged by one step, Poposauroidea fell outside Rauisuchia to become the sister group of Ornithosuchidae, which is thought to closely related to, but outside, Rauisuchia. In their tree, Poposauroidea included genera usually classified as poposauroids as well as several other genera that were not previously placed in the group. One of these genera, Qianosuchus, is unique among pseudosuchians in its semiaquatic lifestyle.