The Forgotten Archosaurs

Originating approximately 250 million years ago, the Archosauria ("Ruling Reptiles") became one of the most diverse and successful clades of vertebrates on earth. However, many of the amazing creatures that are a part of that diversity are often overshadowed by the poster children of the archosaurs - the dinosaurs. This blog looks at those often forgotten archosaurs, focusing especially on the croc-line, but occasionally looking at the bird-line and even outside of crown-group Archosauria.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Pseudopalatus

Pseudopalatus. Image modified from original by Jeff Martz.

Meaning: "false palate"

Species: P. pristinus Mehl, 1928; P. buceros Cope, 1881; P. mccauleyi Ballew, 1989; and P. jablonski Parker and Irmis, 2006

Nominal Author: Mehl, 1928

Age: Late Triassic

Location: Southwestern USA

Physical Characteristics: A large (3-4 meter) phytosaur with a robust rostrum and distinct dorsal crest.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Happy 2011!!! (and reasons I love Safari Ltd)

I'm back after the hectic holidays. I hope you all survived and had a great new year. In the spirit of the holidays, I present Christmas Postosuchus:

I was in a toy store, shopping for my nephew when I cam across Safari Ltd.'s Postosuchus. In case you've never surfed Safari Ltd's website, I highly recommend that you do. They also have Deinosuchus, a crocodile (several actually, including a saltwater croc), an alligator (with babies), as well as many other great prehistoric critters.

However, my nepher is only 19 months old, so I got him this cute little croc and kept Postosuchus for myself.