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, October 18, 2016

Not Forgotten

I'm back! The Forgotten Archosaurs is not forgotten!

I'm making some changes, but I'm working on making this an active blog once more. Things to look forward to in the coming months: guest posts by archosaur workers, interviews, "forgotten archosaurs" in the news, and more!

In the meantime, here's Dromicosuchus.

Dromicosuchus grallator was first named and described by Sues et al in 2003. It is a "spenosuchian"-grade crocodylomorph - a fleet-footed, fox-like little croc - from the Late Triassic of North Carolina. I've been working with this specimen quite a bit recently. Thanks to additional prep work, CT scanning, and new comparative material I've been discovering new aspects of the anatomy of Dromicosuchus, especially details of the braincase and forelimb. I hope to be publishing on this in the next year or 2, so stay tuned.