Hi everybody!
I present, as my first entry, a brief introduction to the great clade, Crurotarsi.
Crurotarsans are some pretty amazing animals, having occupied almost every major ecological niche during the Triassic Period, a time that lasted almost 50 million years (251 Ma to 201.6 Ma). They still survive today as crocodiles, alligators, and their relatives but are nowhere near as diverse and impressive as their ancestors. Named by Paul Sereno in 1991, Crurotarsi means "cross-ankles" based on the way their ankles articulate compared to their sister taxon, Avemetatarsalia (Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs, etc). Although the taxonomy is still disputed some of the groups that make up this clade include Phytosaurs, Aetosaurs, Rauisuchians, Poposaurids, and Crocodylomorphs.
Howdy! Good luck with the blog! Just "shared" it on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely up my ally Susan, so I'm going to follow along. Tom posted it on Facebook so that's how I found you. Best of luck with it!
ReplyDeleteYeah, finally a blog devoted to some of my favorite animals ever!
ReplyDeleteRutiodon, Postosuchus, and all the scaly band... I can't wait your posts about 'em ;)
Bye!
OMG!
ReplyDeleteThis blog gonna be awesome! I LOVE all taxa closer to Crocodylus niloticus than to Passer domesticus... seriously
Hope you will talk about phytosaurs too, i really love them though i dont know very much about them, due to short literature about them... there are other very interesting issues, like Rauisuchia monophyly/paraphyly...
I wish you good luck with this blog!
Can't wait for your posts! ^^