Lewisuchus

Lewisuchus
Temporal range: Middle Triassic, Ladinian
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Dinosauriformes
Clade: Silesauridae
Genus: Lewisuchus
Romer, 1972
Species: L. admixtus
Binomial name
Lewisuchus admixtus
Romer, 1972
Synonyms

?Pseudolagosuchus major Arcucci, 1987

Lewisuchus is a genus of archosaur that lived during the Middle Triassic (Ladinian); it was a silesaurid dinosauriform, a member of the group of reptiles which led to the dinosaurs. Lewisuchus was about one meter long. Fossils have been found in Argentina. Some of the fossils originally assigned to Lewisuchus have since been moved to other genera, and the remaining portions closely resemble those of Pseudolagosuchus. A 2010 study in the Journal Nature indicated that the two may be synonymous. They were approximately the same size and came from the same locality and strata, but the fossil material is fragmentary and there is very little overlapping material. Since Lewisuchus was described 15 years before Pseudolagosuchus, if it is shown the two are synonymous (through the discovery of additional fossils) the name Lewisuchus would have priority.[1]

Life reconstruction of Lewisuchus admixtus

References

  1. Nesbitt, Sterling J., Sidor, Christian A., Irmis, Randall B., Angielczyk, Kenneth D., Smith, Roger M.H. and Tsuji, Linda A. (2010) "Ecologically distinct dinosaurian sister group shows early diversification of Ornithodira." Nature 464(7285):95-8 Supplement
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