Poposauridae
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2008-06-24T08:55:01Z
Mark t young
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cleand up, removing ctenosauriscids. tagged
{{nofootnotes|date=June 2008}}
{{Taxobox
| name = Poposaurids
| fossil_range = [[Middle Triassic]] - [[Late Triassic]]
| image = Poposaurus_BW.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = ''Poposaurus gracilis''
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[Reptile|Sauropsida]]
| subclassis = [[Diapsid]]a
| infraclassis = [[Archosauromorpha]]
| unranked_ordo = [[Crurotarsi]]
| ordo = [[Rauisuchia]]
| subordo = [[Poposauria]]
| familia = '''Poposauridae'''
| familia_authority = [[Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás|Nopcsa]], 1923
| subdivision_ranks = [[Genus|Genera]]
| subdivision =
''[[Effigia]]''<br/>
''[[Poposaurus]]''<br/>
''[[Sillosuchus]]''<br/>
''[[Shuvosaurus]]''<br/>
}}
The '''Poposauridae''' are a [[Family (biology)|family]] of large (around 2.5 to 5 meters long) [[carnivore|carnivorous]] [[archosaur]]s which lived alongside dinosaurs during the [[Late Triassic]]. They are known from fossil remains from North America and Europe, and constituted the [[apex predator]]s in a number of environments {{Fact|date=January 2008}}. Originally believed to be [[theropod]] [[dinosaur]]s (they mirrored the theropods in a number of respects, such as features of the skull), [[cladistics|cladistic]] analysis has shown them to be of closer relation to [[crocodylia|crocodiles]].
[[J. Michael Parrish]]'s cladistic analysis of crocodylotarsan [[archosaur]]s (1993), includes ''[[Poposaurus]]'', ''[[Postosuchus]]'', ''[[Teratosaurus]]'', and ''[[Bromsgroveia]]'', in the Poposauridae. However according to Long and Murry 1995, and [[Peter Galton|Galton]] and [[Alick Walker|Walker]] 1996, ''[[Teratosaurus]]'' is not a poposaurid as previously thought, but a [[Rauisuchidae|rauisuchid]]. All recent phylogenies place ''[[Postosuchus]]'' either as a rauisuchid
(Weinbaum and Hungerbühler 2007) or placed with a taxon currently within [[Prestosuchidae]] (Gower 2002; Nesbitt and Norell 2006; ).
The group is still poorly known, although it is thought that recent description and discoveries of genera such as ''[[Sillosuchus]]'' and ''[[Shuvosaurus]]'' will improve our understanding of these animals and their [[phylogeny|phylogenetic relationships]] within the [[Crurotarsi]].
==Classification==
* '''Family Poposauridae'''
** ''[[Poposaurus]]''
** '''Subfamily [[Chatterjeeinae]]
*** ''[[Effigia]]''
*** ''[[Sillosuchus]]''
*** ''[[Shuvosaurus]]''
==References==
* [[Peter Galton|Galton, P. M.]], 1985, The poposaurid thecodontian ''Teratosaurus suevicus'' von Meyer, plus referred specimens mostly based on prosauropod dinosaurs. ''[[Stuttgarter Beitrage zur Naturkunde]]'', B, v. 116, p. 1-29.
* ----- and [[Alick D. Walker]], 1996. ''Bromsgroveia'' from the Middle Triassic of England, the earliest record of a poposaurid thecodontian reptile (Archosauria: Rauisuchia). ''N. Jb. Geol. Palaont. Abh'', 201, Number 3 : 303-325.
* Long, R. A., and Murry, P A., 1995, Late Triassic (Carnian and Norian) Tetrapods from the Southwestern United States: ''New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science'', A Division of the Office of Cultural Affairs, Bulletin 4, p. 1-254.
* [[Spencer G. Lucas|Lucas, SG]] (1998), Global Triassic tetrapod biostratigraphy and biochronology. ''[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology|Palaeogeog. Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol.]]'' 143: 347-384.
* Nesbitt, S. (2007). "The anatomy of ''Effigia okeeffeae'' (Archosauria, Suchia), theropod-like convergance, and the distribution of related taxa." ''Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History'', '''302''': 84 pp.
* [[J. Michael Parrish|Parrish, JM]] (1993), Phylogeny of the Crocodylotarsi, with reference to archosaurian and crurotarsan monophyly. ''[[Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|J. Vert. Paleontol.]]'' 13: 287-308.
* Sereno, P. C. 2005. [http://www.taxonsearch.org/Archive/stem-archosauria-1.0.php Stem Archosauria—TaxonSearch] [version 1.0, 2005 November 7]
==External links==
* [http://www.palaeos.com/Vertebrates/Units/270Archosauromorpha/270.700.html#Poposauridae Palaeos]
* [http://www.taxonsearch.org/dev/taxon_edit.php?tax_id=456&Action=View Taxon Search]
* [http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/haaramo/Metazoa/Deuterostoma/Chordata/Archosauria/Pseudosuchia/Poposauridae.htm Mikko's Phylogeny Archive]
* [http://dml.cmnh.org/1997Jan/msg00127.html Re: Postosuchus/Rauisuchus] - Dinosaur Mailing List archives
[[Category:Rauisuchians|*]]
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