Vancleavea

Vancleavea Temporal range: 228–203.6 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N Late Triassic
Restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauriformes
Genus:	†Vancleavea Long & Murry, 1995
Type species
†Vancleavea campi Long & Murry, 1995

Vancleavea is a genus of extinct, armoured, non-archosaurian archosauriform with relatively small limbs from the Late Triassic of western North America. The type and only species is V. campi, named by Robert Long & Phillip A Murry, 1995. A nearly complete and articulated skeleton was discovered at the Coelophysis Quarry in north-central New Mexico (Ghost Ranch), USA, and was prepared at the Ruth Hall Museum of Paleontology in Abiquiú, New Mexico before being formally described in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society in 2009.Vancleavea was first discovered in 1962 from the Petrified Forest Member of the Petrified Forest National Park and initially described by Long and Murry in 1995. The genus is named after Phillip Van Cleave, who discovered the first known remains of the genus.Vancleavea is a fairly common occurrence in most levels of the Chinle Formation, however, due to the poorly preserved remains, it is difficult to compare specimens across stratigraphic levels.

Vancleavea was around 1.2 m (3.9 ft) in length. Imbricating osteoderms cover the entire body, the limbs are relatively short, and the skull is highly ossified. The supratemporal fenestra is absent, which may represent a secondary closure rather than a plesiomorphic trait. The nares open dorsally (i.e. nostrils face upward) and the jaw contains enlarged caniniform fangs. Each osteoderm possesses a pronounced central keel and an anterior projection. The illium of Vancleavea resembles those of unrelated drepanosaurs. The unique morphology of Vancleavea differs greatly from any other known basal archosauriform.