| Compsosaurus Temporal range: Late Triassic, | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
| Clade: | Archosauriformes |
| Order: | † Phytosauria |
| Family: | † Parasuchidae |
| Genus: | † Compsosaurus Leidy, 1856 |
| Type species | |
| †Compsosaurus priscus Leidy, 1856 | |
| Synonyms | |
Compsosaurus (meaning "elegant lizard" [1] ) is an extinct genus of phytosaur, a crocodile-like reptile that lived during the Triassic. Its fossils have been found in North Carolina. The type species, Compsosaurus priscus, was named by American paleontologist Joseph Leidy in 1856, [2] although other sources say 1857. [3] [4] [5] Compsosaurus may have been the same animal as the related Belodon .
Only four teeth are known, discovered in the Carnian-Rhaetian-aged coal fields of Chatham County, North Carolina (probably Red Sandstone Formation) and the New Oxford Formation of Pennsylvania. [6]
