- Nicrosaurus
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Nicrosaurus
Temporal range: Late TriassicNicrosaurus skull, from Zittel, 1913 Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Order: Phytosauria Family: Phytosauridae Subfamily: Pseudopalatinae Genus: Nicrosaurus
Fraas, 1866Nicrosaurus is an extinct genus of phytosaur reptile. Although it looked and probably lived like a crocodile, it was not closely related to these creatures, instead being a good example of parallel evolution. The main difference between Nicrosaurus (and all other phytosaurs) and real crocodiles was the position of the nostrils - Nicrosaurus's nostrils were placed directly in front of the forehead, whereas in crocodiles, the nostrils are positioned on the end of the snout.
A recent phylogenetic analysis found that the genera Pseudopalatus, Mystriosuchus, Redondasaurus and Nicrosaurus were pseudopalatines.[1]
References
- ^ Hungerbühler A. 2002. The Late Triassic phytosaur Mystriosuchus westphali, with a revision of the genus. Palaeontology 45 (2): 377-418
Kingdom: Animalia · Phylum: Chordata · Class: Sauropsida · Infraclass: Archosauromorpha Major clades Phytosauridae · Stagonolepididae · Ornithosuchidae · Ctenosauriscidae · Lotosauridae · Poposauridae · Prestosuchidae · Rauisuchidae · ShuvosauridaeRelated articlePlant-eating genera LotosauridaeOthersBipeds or facultatively bipedal genera YarasuchusOthersSemi-aquatic or aquatic genera OthersQuadrupedal terrestrial carnivores OthersThis article about a prehistoric archosaur is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.