Ctenosauriscus
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Ctenosauriscus Temporal range: Early Triassic, 247.5–247.2 Ma |
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| Part slab of the holotype fossil of Ctenosauriscus koeneni | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Family: | †Ctenosauriscidae |
| Genus: |
†Ctenosauriscus Kuhn, 1964 |
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Ctenosauriscus is an extinct genus of sail-backed poposauroid archosaur from Early Triassic deposits of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It gives its name to the family Ctenosauriscidae, which includes other sail-backed poposauroids such as Arizonasaurus. Fossils have been found in latest Olenekian deposits around 247.5-247.2 million years old, making it one of the first known archosaurs.
The most prominent feature of Ctenosauriscus is its sail-like back, formed from elongated neural spines of the dorsal and cervical vertebrae. These spines curve slightly forward at the front of the sail and slightly backward at the back of the sail. Although other poposauroids like Lotosaurus and the ctenosauriscids Hypselorhachis and Xilousuchus also have elongated spines, the sail of Ctenosauriscus is one of the largest in the group. Among ctenosauriscids, Ctenosauriscus is most similar to Arizonasaurus from the Middle Triassic of the southwestern United States. Both of these ctenosauriscids have elongated vertebrae spines up to 12 times the height of the bodies of the vertebrae. The ends of the spines are wider in Ctenosauriscus, and Ctenosauriscus also has larger projections on the centra of the dorsal vertebrae. Hypselorhachis also has neural spines that are widened at the end, but they are shorter than those of Ctenosauriscus. Lotosaurus from the Middle Triassic of China also has elongate spines, but they are straighter, broader, and much shorter than those of Ctenosauriscus.
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