Rauisuchidae

Rauisuchidae
Temporal range: Early - Late Triassic
Mounted skeleton of Postosuchus kirkpatricki in the Museum of Texas Tech University
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Loricata
Family: †Rauisuchidae
Huene, 1936
Genera
Synonyms

Rauisuchidae is a group of large (up to 6 meters or more) predatory Triassic archosaurs. There is some disagreement over which genera should be included in the Prestosuchidae, which in Rauisuchidae, and which in the Poposauridae, and indeed whether these should even be thought of as separate families. Rauisuchids occurred throughout much of the Triassic, and may have first occurred in the Early Triassic if some archosaurian taxa such as Scythosuchus and Tsylmosuchus are considered to be within the family.[1]

An early cladistic analysis of crocodylotarsan archosaurs included Lotosaurus, Fasolasuchus, Rauisuchus, and "the Kupferzell rauisuchid" (later called Batrachotomus) within Rauisuchidae.[2] However, a later study found that Batrachotomus was more closely related to Prestosuchus, and thus was a prestosuchid.[3] In addition, the toothless Lotosaurus has been found to be more closely related to the Ctenosauriscidae, a clade of Dimetrodon-like animals with sails on their backs.[4]

Two genera previously classified as poposaurids, are in fact rauisuchids. These include Teratosaurus[5][6] and Postosuchus.[7]

Genera

Genus Status Age Location Unit Description Images

Arganasuchus

 Valid Late Triassic  Morocco Named for the Moroccan fossil site where it was discovered, the Argana Basin.

?Fenhosuchus

 Valid Early Triassic  China May be a chimera.

Heptasuchus

 Valid Carnian  USA Popo Agie Formation

Jushatyria

 Valid Ladinian  Russia

Luperosuchus

 Valid Anisian  Argentina

Polonosuchus

 Valid Carnian  Poland

Postosuchus

 Valid Carnian - Norian  USA Chinle Formation

Newark Supergroup

Procerosuchus

 Valid Carnian  Brazil Santa Maria Formation

Rauisuchus

 Valid Middle Triassic  Brazil

Stagonosuchus

 Valid Anisian  Tanzania Manda Formation

Teratosaurus

 Valid Norian  Germany Löwenstein Formation

Tikisuchus

 Valid Late Triassic  India Tiki Formation

?Tsylmosuchus

 Valid Olenekian  Russia One of the oldest archosaurs.

Vivaron

 Valid Norian  USA Chinle Formation

Vjushkovisaurus

 Valid Anisian  Russia

Vytshegdosuchus

 Valid Olenekian  Russia

References

  1. ↑ Gower, D.J.; Sennikov, A.G. (2003). "Early archosaurs from Russia". In Benton, M.J.; Shishkin, M.A.; and Unwin, D.M. (eds.). The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 140–159.
  2. ↑ Parrish JM. 1993. Phylogeny of the Crocodylotarsi, with reference to archosaurian and crurotarsan monophyly. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 13: 287-308.
  3. ↑ Gower DJ. 2002. Braincase evolution in suchian archosaurs: evidence from the rauisuchian Batrachotomus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 136: 49-76.
  4. ↑ Nesbitt SJ. 2005. Osteology of the Middle Triassic pseudosuchian archosaur Arizonasaurus babbitti. Historical Biology 17: 19-47.
  5. ↑ Long RA, Murry PA. 1995. Late Triassic (Carnian and Norian) tetrapods from the Southwestern United States. New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science Bulletin 4: 1-254.
  6. ↑ Galton PM, Walker AD. 1996. Bromsgroveia from the Middle Triassic of England, the earliest record of a poposaurid thecodontian reptile (Archosauria: Rauisuchia). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 201 (3): 303-325.
  7. ↑ Weinbaum JC, Hungerbühler A. 2007. A revision of Poposaurus gracilis (Archosauria: Suchia) based on two new specimens from the Late Triassic of the southwestern U.S.A. Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 81(2):131-145.
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