Why are phytosaurs not crocodiles?

The only obvious difference between crocodiles and phytosaurs is that crocodiles have their nostrils at the ends of their snouts, and phytosaurs had them on raised hump in front of their eyes. Gavials have long, slender snouts and homodont teeth (all of their teeth look the same), and eat mostly fish.

Was the phytosaur a predator?

The name “phytosaur” means “plant reptile”, as the first fossils of phytosaurs were mistakenly thought to belong to plant eaters. The name is misleading because the sharp teeth in phytosaur jaws clearly show that they were predators.

Are phytosaurs related to crocodiles?

Phytosaurs are a group of extinct semi-aquatic animals that thrived during the Late Triassic. While superficially they look similar to crocodiles as they played a similar role in the environment, they are far more ancient.

Are phytosaurs dinosaurs?

Phytosaur, heavily armoured semiaquatic reptiles found as fossils from the Late Triassic Period (about 229 million to 200 million years ago). Phytosaurs were not dinosaurs; rather both groups were archosaurs, a larger grouping that also includes crocodiles and pterosaurs (flying reptiles).

What kind of food did the phytosaur eat?

Actually phytosaurs had sharp, cone-shaped teeth like crocodiles, and they ate fish and other animals. Most of what we think we know about the habits of phytosaurs comes from living crocodilians. Among living crocs, the shape of the skull is roughly correlated with diet.

Are there any phytosaurs in the Middle Triassic?

Another group of pseudosuchians, the rauisuchians, have been found in Middle Triassic rocks, so the phytosaur ghost lineage must go back that far as well. The Upper Triassic lasted from 228.7-199.6 million years ago. Within those 28 million years, four distinct groups of phytosaurs are found, one after another through time.

How are phytosaurs related to other archosaurs?

Some recent studies of the evolutionary relationships of early archosauriforms suggest that phytosaurs evolved before the split between crocodile- and bird-line archosaurs and are the sister taxon of Archosauria. Others retain the older classification of phytosaurs as pseudosuchians. Phytosaurs had a nearly global distribution during the Triassic.

How did the phytosaur get its name Phytosaurus?

They evolved in the mid Triassic period and survived to the early Jurassic for unknown reasons. When Phytosaurus was first discovered in the early 1850’s. The scientist that discovered them saw that its teeth were blunt and serrated like plant eaters so he gave it the name Phytosaurus which means ” plant lizard ”.