Arizonasaurus
Appearance
Arizonasaurus Temporal range: Late Triassic
| |
---|---|
![]() | |
Arizonasaurus babbitti | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Phylum: | |
Class: | |
(unranked): | |
Order: | |
Family: | |
Genus: | Arizonasaurus Welles, 1947
|
Species: | A. babbitti
|
Binomial name | |
Arizonasaurus babbitti Welles, 1947
|
Arizonasaurus was an archosaurian reptile from the Mesozoic Era, specifically a poposaurid archosaur from the Middle Triassic (245-228 million years ago). It was closely related to crocodiles, and is near the split between dinosaurs and crocodiles. Arizonasaurus is found in the Middle Triassic Moenkopi Formation of northern Arizona. A fairly complete skeleton was found in 2002 by Sterling Nesbitt. The taxon has a large sailback formed by elongate neural spines of the vertebrae. The type species, Arizonasaurus babbitti, was named by Welles in 1947.