Phytosaurs are an extinct group of large, mostly semiaquatic Late Triassic archosauriform reptiles. Phytosaurs belong to the order Phytosauria. Phytosauria and Phytosauridae are often considered to be equivalent groupings containing the same species, but some studies have identified non-phytosaurid phytosaurians. Phytosaurs were long-snouted and heavily armoured, bearing a remarkable resemblance to modern crocodilians in size, appearance, and lifestyle, as an example of convergence or parallel evolution. The name "phytosaur" means "plant reptile", as the first fossils of phytosaurs were mistakenly thought to belong to plant eaters.
Termatosaurus is a genus of archosaur known from several tooth specimens differentiated between two species. Its remains come from the Upper Triassic and was once thought to have survived until the Early Jurassic, but the Jurassic remains were redescribed as plesiosaur remains. It has only been found in France, England, Germany and Switzerland. and two species are known of this animal: the type species, Termatosaurus albertii, named by Meyer and T. Plieninger in 1844; and T. crocodilinus, by Quenstedt (1858). It is very obscure and apparently considered to be dubious.
Paleorhinus is an extinct genus of widespread basal phytosaur known from the Late Triassic. The genus was named in 1904 based on the type species Paleorhinus bransoni, which is known from Wyoming and Texas in the United States. Another valid species, Paleorhinus angustifrons from Bavaria, Germany, is also commonly referred to the genus. Paleorhinus had a length of about 2.5 meters.
Parasuchus is an extinct genus of basal phytosaur known from the Late Triassic of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, India. At its most restricted definition, Parasuchus contains a single species, Parasuchus hislopi. Parasuchus hislopi is one of several species belonging to a basal grade of phytosaurs, typified by the genus Paleorhinus. Historically, Paleorhinus has been known from better-described fossils, and many species have been lumped into that genus. Parasuchus hislopi, despite being described earlier than Paleorhinus, was considered an undiagnostic chimera until new neotype fossils were described in the late 1970s. Parasuchus hislopi and the two unambiguously valid species of Paleorhinus are all closely related; some authors have historically described them all under the species Paleorhinus, while others place the two Paleorhinus species into Parasuchus according to the principle of priority.
Rutiodon is an extinct genus of mystriosuchine phytosaurs from the Late Triassic of the eastern United States. The type species of Rutiodon, Rutiodon carolinensis, encompasses a large number of skulls and assorted postcranial fossils discovered in the Cumnock Formation of North Carolina. Fossils referable to the species are also known from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia. Rutiodon carolinensis is the most well-described species of phytosaur in eastern North America, though its validity as a natural taxon has been questioned. Some paleontologists also recognize a larger and more robust species, Rutiodon manhattanensis, which is known from teeth and postcranial fossils from New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Metoposaurus meaning "front lizard" is an extinct genus of stereospondyl temnospondyl amphibian, known from the Late Triassic of Germany, Italy, Poland, and Portugal. This mostly aquatic animal possessed small, weak limbs, sharp teeth, and a large, flat head. This highly flattened creature mainly fed on fish, which it captured with its wide jaws lined with needle-like teeth. Metoposaurus was up to 3 m long and weighed about 450 kg. Many Metoposaurus mass graves have been found, probably from creatures that grouped together in drying pools during drought.
Phytosaurus is a dubious genus of extinct parasuchid phytosaur found in an outcrop of the Keuper in Germany. Phytosaurus was the first phytosaur to be described, being done so by Georg Friedrich von Jaeger in 1828. The type species is P. cylindricodon and a second species, P. cubicodon, is also known.
Angistorhinus is an extinct genus of phytosaur known from the Late Triassic period of Texas and Wyoming, United States. It was first named by Mehl in 1913 and the type species is Angistorhinus grandis. Other species from Texas and Wyoming, A. alticephalus, A. gracilis and A. maximus, are cospecific with the type species. Angistorhinus is known from the holotype UC 631, partial skull and lower jaws recovered from the Popo Agie Formation, Chugwater Group, Wyoming and from the associated paratype UM 531, a partial skull, TMM 31098-1, skull and lower jaws and ROM 7977, partial skull and lower jaws, recovered from the 'Pre-Tecovas Horizon' in the Dockum Group, Texas. A possible second species, A. talainti is known from the Triassic of Morocco. In 1995, Long and Murry created the new combination, Angistorhinus megalodon by synonymy for Brachysuchus. Hungerbühler and Sues (2001) hypothesised that Angistorhinus is a junior synonym of Rutiodon. However, in 2010 Michelle R. Stocker retained the validity of Brachysuchus and of A. grandis.
The Trossingen Formation, formerly the Knollenmergel, is a geological formation in Germany and Switzerland. It dates back to the late Norian-Rhaetian.
Plagiosuchus is an extinct genus of plagiosaurid temnospondyl. It is known from several collections from the Middle Triassic of Germany.
Dyoplax is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian archosaur, possibly an erpetosuchid. Fossils have been found from the type locality within the upper Schilfsandstein Formation in Stuttgart, Germany. The holotype specimen was a natural cast of a nearly complete skeleton that lacked only parts of the tail and limb bones.
Ebrachosaurus is an extinct genus of aetosaur. It was named after the town of Ebrach, Germany, near an outcrop of the Blasensandstein Formation where the original fossils have been found. Other Blasensandstein fauna include the temnospondyl Metoposaurus and the phytosaur Francosuchus. The genus has often been considered synonymous with the closely related Stagonolepis. The holotype specimen was lost during World War II, so its relationships within Stagonolepididae remain indeterminant.
Ebrachosuchus is an extinct genus of basal phytosaur known from the Late Triassic of Bavaria, southern Germany. It is known only from the holotype BSPG 1931 X 501, a complete skull missing both mandibles. It was collected at Ebrach Quarry, bed number 9 from the late Carnian-aged Blasensandstein Member of the Hassberge Formation. It was first named by Oskar Kuhn in 1936 and the type species is Ebrachosuchus neukami.
Machaeroprosopus is an extinct genus of mystriosuchin leptosuchomorph phytosaur from the Late Triassic of the southwestern United States. M. validus, once thought to be the type species of Machaeroprosopus, was named in 1916 on the basis of three complete skulls from Chinle Formation, Arizona. The skulls have been lost since the 1950s, and a line drawing in the original 1916 description is the only visual record of the specimen. Another species, M. andersoni, was named in 1922 from New Mexico, and the species M. adamanensis, M. gregorii, M. lithodendrorum, M. tenuis, and M. zunii were named in 1930. Most species have been reassigned to the genera Smilosuchus, Rutiodon, or Phytosaurus. Until recently, M. validus was considered to be the only species that has not been reassigned. Thus, Machaeroprosopus was considered to be a nomen dubium or "doubtful name" because of the lack of diagnostic specimens that can support its distinction from other phytosaur genera. However, a taxonomic revision of Machaeroprosopus, conducted by Parker et al. in 2013, revealed that UW 3807, the holotype of M. validus, is not the holotype of Machaeroprosopus, while the species Machaeroprosopus buceros, Machaeroprosopus being a replacement name, with a fixed type species, for Metarhinus, is the combinatio nova of the type species of the genu: Belodon buceros. Therefore, the name Pseudopalatus must be considered a junior synonym of Machaeroprosopus, and all species of the former must be reassigned to the latter. This revised taxonomy was already accepted in several studies, including Stocker and Butler (2013). Stocker and Butler (2013) also treated M. andersoni as a valid species, and not a junior synonym of Machaeroprosopus buceros as was previously suggested by Long and Murry (1995).
Tikisuchus is an extinct genus of rauisuchid archosauromorph. It is known from the Late Triassic Tiki Formation in the Shahdol District of central India and was the first rauisuchid to have been found in Asia. The horizon from which remains have been found is Carnian in age. The type species is T. romeri, named in honor of American paleontologist Alfred Romer. Romer was present at the Tiki locality during the excavation of the fossil, but died before the description of the genus in 1987. Tikisuchus is known only from one specimen, called ISI R 305, which consists of the skull and some postcranial elements of a young individual.
Stromerosuchus is a dubious genus of Late Cretaceous crocodyliform. Fragmentary remains have been found from the Cenomanian-age Bahariya Formation of Egypt. The genus was named in 1936 by Oskar Kuhn. It is named in honor of Ernst Stromer, the German paleontologist who found the fossils in the Bahariya Oasis in 1911 and described them in 1922. After their discovery, the fossils, along with many others found from Bahariya, were in the possession of the Egyptian Geological Survey. In 1922, the fossils were sent back to Stromer, but they were badly crushed in shipment from Egypt. Because the known remains are so poor, the genus is now regarded as a nomen dubium. Some material has been referred to the genera Aegyptosuchus and Stomatosuchus, both named by Stromer from the Bahariya material.
Mesorhinosuchus is an extinct genus of basal phytosaur possibly known from the Early Triassic of Saxony-Anhalt, central-eastern Germany. It was first named by Otto Jaekel in 1910 and the type species is Mesorhinus fraasi. The generic name Mesorhinus was preoccupied by Mesorhinus piramydatus Ameghino, 1885, a macraucheniid mammal, which is now considered to be a junior synonym of Oxyodontherium. Thus, an alternative generic name, Mesorhinosuchus, was proposed by Oskar Kuhn in 1961. The genus is occasionally misspelled as Mesorhinosaurus, while Stocker and Butler (2013) recently misspelled its original generic name as Mesosuchus.
Dolerosaurus is an extinct genus of diapsid known from the early Late Triassic upper Lunz Formation of Austria. Dolerosaurus was first named by Richard J. Butler in 2013 and the type species is Francosuchus trauthi.
Wannia is an extinct genus of basal phytosaur reptile known from the Late Triassic of Texas, southern United States. It contains a single species, Wannia scurriensis, which is known from a single specimen. This species was originally named as a species referred to Paleorhinus and later was considered as a possible junior synonym of Paleorhinus bransoni. However its re-description revealed five autapomorphies, and a phylogenetic position as the most basal known phytosaur, justifying the erection of a new generic name for the species.
The Hassberge Formation is a geologic formation in Bavaria, Germany. It preserves fossils dating back to the Carnian stage of the Triassic period.
