Arctosaurus

Taxobox
name = "Arctosaurus"
fossil_range = Late Triassic
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
subclassis = Diapsida
infraclassis = Archosauromorpha
unranked_ordo = Archosauriformes
genus = "Arctosaurus"
binomial = "Arctosaurus osborni"
binomial_authority = Adams, 1875

"Arctosaurus" (meaning "arctic lizard") is a genus of extinct reptile originally classified as a small reptile of unknown affinities, but was often classified as a sauropodomorph dinosaur in the years to follow. Although it has also been classified as a theropod, recent review finds that the similarities it shares with theropods are spread throughout several groups of Late Triassic reptiles, and so it cannot be assigned any more specifically than to Archosauriformes.cite journal |last=Nesbitt |first=Sterling J. |coauthors= Irmis, Randall B.; and Parker, William G. |year=2007 |title=A critical re-evaluation of the Late Triassic dinosaur taxa of North America |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=209–243 |doi=10.1017/S1477201907002040 ] Other authors have suggested trilophosaurian affinities.cite book|title=Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia|year=1997|chapter=Excluded Genera|author=Glut, D.F.|pages=1005-1010|publisher=McFarland & Company|id=ISBN 0-89950-917-7] cite book |last=Russell |first=Dale A. |authorlink=Dale Russell |title=An Odyssey in Time: Dinosaurs of North America |year=1989 |publisher=NorthWord Press, Inc. |location=Minocqua, Wisconsin |isbn=1-55971-038-1 |pages=26 ] It is based on a neck vertebra that was found on Cameron Island, Nunavut, Canada, in Late Triassic-age rocks.

References

External links

* [http://www.dinoruss.com/de_4/5a7ec77.htm "Arctosaurus" in The Dinosaur Encyclopaedia] at Dino Russ's Lair