Silesauridae

Silesauridae; Temporal range: Triassic, 245–203 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Anisian - Norian
	Silesaurus, type genus of Silesauridae
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	†Ornithischia (?)
Family:	†Silesauridae; Langer et al., 2010
Clades
	Asilisaurus; Diodorus; Eucoelophysis; Lewisuchus; Pseudolagosuchus; Sacisaurus; Silesaurus; Technosaurus;

Silesauridae is an extinct clade of dinosauriformes, a group of Triassic reptiles that included early ancestors of the dinosaurs. The silesaurids were a sister clade to the dinosaurs. The family was named in 2010 by paleontologist Max C. Langer and colleagues from Brazil and Argentina. They defined it as a branch-based clade of all archosaurs closer to Silesaurus opolensis than to either Heterodontosaurus tucki or Marasuchus lilloensis. At the same time, a second group of scientists independently named Silesauridae as a node-based clade consisting of Lewisuchus, Silesaurus, their common ancestor and all its descendants.^[1] Currently, both definitions encompass the same group of animals.

The fossils range in age from the Anisian to the Norian stages of the Triassic, about 245 to 203 million years ago.^[1]^[2]

Dinosauriformes

Marasuchus

Silesauridae

Lewisuchus/Pseudolagosuchus

Asilisaurus

Eucoelophysis

Silesaurus

	Sacisaurus

	Diodorus

Dinosauria (to dinosaurs)

Basal dinosauriform phylogeny simplified after Nesbitt et al., 2011.^[3]

Among the members of the Silesauridae were Silesaurus (which lends its name to the family), Pseudolagosuchus, Lewisuchus, Asilisaurus, Technosaurus, Eucoelophysis, Sacisaurus, and Diodorus.^[1] The cladogram to the right shows one of two current (2010) phylogenies of the Silesauridae.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Nesbitt, Sterling J., Sidor, Christian A., Irmis, Randall B., Angielczyk, Kenneth D., Smith, Roger M.H. and Tsuji, Linda A. (2010) "Ecologically distinct dinosaurian sister group shows early diversification of Ornithodira." Nature 464(7285):95-8 Supplement
^ Langer, M.C., Ezcurra, M.D., Bittencourt, J.S., and Novas, F.E. (2010). "The origin and early evolution of dinosaurs". Biological Reviews 85:55-110. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00094.x
^ Christian F. Kammerer, Sterling J. Nesbitt, and Neil H. Shubin (2011) The first basal dinosauriform (Silesauridae) from the Late Triassic of Morocco. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica (in press) doi:10.4202/app.2011.0015 [1]

External links

Silesauridae in the Paleobiology Database

[Nesbittetal-1] Nesbitt, Sterling J., Sidor, Christian A., Irmis, Randall B., Angielczyk, Kenneth D., Smith, Roger M.H. and Tsuji, Linda A. (2010) "Ecologically distinct dinosaurian sister group shows early diversification of Ornithodira." Nature 464(7285):95-8 Supplement

[Langeretal-2] Langer, M.C., Ezcurra, M.D., Bittencourt, J.S., and Novas, F.E. (2010). "The origin and early evolution of dinosaurs". Biological Reviews 85:55-110. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00094.x

[3] Christian F. Kammerer, Sterling J. Nesbitt, and Neil H. Shubin (2011) The first basal dinosauriform (Silesauridae) from the Late Triassic of Morocco. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica (in press) doi:10.4202/app.2011.0015 [1]

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