Poposauridae is a family of large carnivorous archosaurs which lived alongside dinosaurs during the Late Triassic. They were around 2.5 to 5 metres (8 ft 2 in to 16 ft 5 in) long. Poposaurids are known from fossil remains from North and South America. While originally believed to be theropod dinosaurs (they mirrored the theropods in a number of respects, such as features of the skull and bipedal locomotion), cladistic analysis has shown them to be more closely related to crocodiles.
Poposauridae Temporal range: Late Triassic
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Poposaurus gracilis | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Archosauria |
Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
Superfamily: | †Poposauroidea |
Family: | †Poposauridae Nopcsa, 1923 |
Genera | |
An early cladistic analysis of crocodylotarsan archosaurs included Poposaurus, Postosuchus, Teratosaurus, and Bromsgroveia within Poposauridae.[1] However, later studies found Teratosaurus to be a rauisuchid.[2][3] All recent phylogenetic analyses place Postosuchus either as a rauisuchid [4] or a prestosuchid.[5][6][7]
Genus | Status | Age | Location | Description | Images |
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Nomen dubium. | Late Triassic | North America | |||
Junior synonym. | Junior synonym of Poposaurus | ||||
Valid. | Late Triassic | North America. |