Phytosaurs are an extinct group of large, mostly semiaquatic Late Triassic archosauriform reptiles. Phytosaurs belong to the family Phytosauridae and 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. The name is misleading because the sharp teeth in phytosaur jaws clearly show that they were predators.
Guaibasaurus is an extinct genus of basal dinosaur known from the Late Triassic Caturrita Formation of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. It was possibly a basal theropod or sauropodomorph. In 2016 Gregory S. Paul estimated it at 2 meters and 10 kg, whereas in 2020 Molina-Pérez and Larramendi listed it at 3 meters and 35 kg.
Lufengosaurus is a genus of massospondylid dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic period in what is now southwestern China. The dinosaur made international headlines in 2017 when Nature Communications reported scientists' discovery of 195-million-year-old collagen protein in the rib of a Lufengosarus fossil.
Yunnanosaurus is an extinct genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived approximately 201 to 168 million years ago in what is now the Yunnan Province, in China, for which it was named. Yunnanosaurus was a large sized, moderately-built, ground-dwelling, quadrupedal herbivore, that could also walk bipedally, and ranged in size from 7 meters (23 feet) long and 2 m (6.5 ft) high to 4 m (13 ft) high in the largest species.
Sinosaurus was a theropod dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic Period. It was a bipedal carnivore approximately 5.6 metres in length. Fossils of the animal were found at the Lufeng Formation, in the Yunnan Province of China.
Bienosaurus is a dubious genus of thyreophoran dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic Lower Lufeng Formation in Yunnan Province in China.
Gyposaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the early Jurassic of South Africa. It is usually considered to represent juveniles of other prosauropods, but "G." sinensis is regarded as a possibly valid species.
Dianchungosaurus is an extinct genus of mesoeucrocodylian crocodylomorph from the Early Jurassic of China. It was previously considered a dinosaur, but it was recently reclassified as a mesoeucrocodylian by Paul Barrett and Xing Xu (2005). It is probably the same animal as the informally named "Tianchungosaurus". The type species is D. lufengensis and it was described in 1982. A second species, D. elegans, was named in 1986, but it has since become a synonym of the type species.
Eshanosaurus is a genus of a dinosaur from the early Jurassic Period. It is known only from a fossil partial lower jawbone, found in China. It may be a therizinosaurian, and so the earliest known coelurosaur.
Fulengia is a dubious genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Lufeng Formation of China.
Pseudosuchia is one of two major divisions of Archosauria, including living crocodilians and all archosaurs more closely related to crocodilians than to birds. Pseudosuchians are also informally known as "crocodilian-line archosaurs". Prior to 2011, the clade Pseudosuchia was often called Crurotarsi in reference to the crurotarsal ankle found in almost all members of the group, which traditionally included phytosaurs, ornithosuchids, and suchians. However, a major 2011 study of Triassic archosaur relations proposed that phytosaurs were not closely related to other traditional "crurotarsans", at least compared to "bird-line archosaurs" (Avemetatarsalians) such as pterosaurs and dinosaurs. As a result, the possession of a crurotarsal ankle was considered a plesiomorphic ("primitive") feature retained by pseudosuchians. Crurotarsi now refers to a broader group of reptiles including Pseudosuchia, Phytosauria, and Avemetatarsalia. Despite Pseudosuchia meaning "false crocodiles", the name is a misnomer as true crocodilians are a subset of the group.
The Lufeng Formation is a Lower Jurassic sedimentary rock formation found in Yunnan, China. It has two units: the lower Dull Purplish Beds/Shawan Member are of Hettangian age, and Dark Red Beds/Zhangjia'ao Member are of Sinemurian age. It is known for its fossils of early dinosaurs. The Dull Purplish Beds have yielded the possible therizinosaur Eshanosaurus, the possible theropod Lukousaurus, and the "prosauropods" "Gyposaurus" sinensis, Lufengosaurus, Jingshanosaurus, and Yunnanosaurus. Dinosaurs discovered in the Dark Red Beds include the theropod Sinosaurus triassicus, the "prosauropods" "Gyposaurus", Lufengosaurus, and Yunnanosaurus, indeterminate remains of sauropods, and the early armored dinosaurs Bienosaurus and Tatisaurus.
Microchampsa is an extinct genus of protosuchian crocodylomorph that existed during the Early Jurassic. Fossils have been found from stratum 6 of the Dahuangtian locality, an outcrop of the Lower Red Beds of the Lufeng Formation in Yunnan, China. Parts of the postcranial skeleton, such as the dorsal osteoderms, vertebrae, ribs, and bones of the manus, are known. The dorsal osteoderms of the lumbar region are fused to double headed ribs. All osteoderms are rectangular and overlap each other.
Platyognathus is an extinct genus of protosuchian crocodylomorph. Fossils are known from the Early Jurassic Lower Lufeng Formation in Yunnan, China and belong to the type and only species, P. hsui.
Strigosuchus is an extinct genus of crurotarsan from the Early Jurassic of China. Remains have been found from the Lower Lufeng Series in Yunnan. The genus was named by paleontologist D.J. Simmons in 1965 with the type species being S. licinus. Although originally classified as an ornithosuchid, the fragmentary holotype specimen of Strigosuchus has been suggested to be from a sphenosuchian rather than an ornithosuchid. Other Lufeng crocodylomorphs found in association with Strigosuchus include the protosuchian Platyognathus and the sphenosuchian Dibothrosuchus.
Nebulasaurus is an extinct genus of basal eusauropod dinosaur known from the early Middle Jurassic Zhanghe Formation of Yunnan Province, China. It is known only from the holotype braincase LDRC-v.d.1. A phylogenetic analysis found Nebulasaurus to be a sister taxon to Spinophorosaurus from the Middle Jurassic of Africa. This discovery is significant paleontologically because it represents a clade of basal eusauropods previously unknown from Asia.
Panguraptor is a genus of coelophysid theropod dinosaur known from fossils discovered in Lower Jurassic rocks of southern China. The type and only known species is Panguraptor lufengensis. The generic name refers to the deity Pangu but also to the supercontinent Pangaea for which in a geological context the same characters are used: 盘古. Raptor means "seizer", "robber" in Latin. The specific name is a reference to the Lufeng Formation.The holotype specimen was recovered on 12 October 2007 from the Lufeng Formation of Yunnan, which is noted for sauropodomorph fossils. It was described in 2014 by You Hai-Lu and colleagues.
Xingxiulong is a genus of bipedal sauropodiform from the Early Jurassic of China. It contains a single species, X. chengi, described by Wang et al. in 2017 from three specimens, two adults and an immature individual, that collectively constitute a mostly complete skeleton. Adults of the genus measured 4–5 metres (13–16 ft) long and 1–1.5 metres tall. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Xingxiulong is most closely related to its contemporary Jingshanosaurus, although an alternative position outside of both the Sauropodiformes and Massospondylidae is also plausible.
Shuangbaisaurus is genus of theropod dinosaur, possibly a junior synonym of Sinosaurus. It lived in the Early Jurassic of Yunnan Province, China, and is represented by a single species, S. anlongbaoensis, known from a partial skull. Like the theropods Dilophosaurus and Sinosaurus,Shuangbaisaurus bore a pair of thin, midline crests on its skull. Unusually, these crests extended backwards over the level of the eyes, which, along with the unusual orientation of the jugal bone, led the describers to name it as a new genus. However, Shuangbaisaurus also possesses a groove between its premaxilla and maxilla, a characteristic which has been used to characterize Sinosaurus as a genus. Among the two morphotypes present within the genus Sinosaurus, Shuangbaisaurus more closely resembles the morphotype that is variably treated as a distinct species, S. sinensis, in its relatively tall skull.
Irisosaurus, is an extinct genus of sauropodiform sauropodomorph dinosaur, from the Fengjiahe Formation of China. The type species, Irisosaurus yimenensis was formally described in 2020. It was the sister taxon to Mussaurus.
