Ornithosuchus woodwardi
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Ornithosuchus Temporal range: Late Triassic Carnian |
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| Life restoration | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Family: | †Ornithosuchidae |
| Genus: |
†Ornithosuchus Newton, 1894 |
| Type species | |
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†Ornithosuchus woodwardi Newton, 1894 |
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| Species | |
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†Ornithosuchus woodwardi |
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| Synonyms | |
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Ornithosuchus taylori Broom, 1913 |
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†Ornithosuchus woodwardi
Newton, 1894)
Ornithosuchus taylori Broom, 1913
Ornithosuchus (meaning "bird crocodile") is an extinct genus of pseudosuchians from the Late Triassic (Carnian) Lossiemouth Sandstone of Scotland. It was originally thought to be the ancestor to the carnosaurian dinosaurs (such as Allosaurus). However, it is now known to be more closely related to crocodilians than to dinosaurs.
Despite this relationship to crocodiles, Ornithosuchus was able to walk on its hind legs, like many dinosaurs. However, it probably spent most of its time on all fours, only moving bipedally when it needed to run rapidly. Its skull also resembled those of theropod dinosaurs, but more primitive features included the presence of five toes on each foot and a double row of armoured plates along the animal's back. Ornithosuchus was around 4 metres (13 ft) in length.
A single species of Ornithosuchus is recognized, O. woodwardi. Ornithosuchus taylori is a synonym.
"Dasygnathus" longidens was created by Thomas Huxley for a maxilla from the Lossiemouth Sandstone in 1877. The genus name Dasygnathus had already been used for a coleopteran insect, so Huxley's generic name was changed to Dasygnathoides. Although synonymized with Ornithosuchus by Walker (1964), a 2016 study found Dasygnathoides indeterminate beyond Pseudosuchia.
Ornithosuchus is the type genus of the Ornithosuchidae, a family of facultatively biped carnivores that were geographically widespread during the Late Triassic. Two other genera are currently known, Venaticosuchus and Riojasuchus.
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