Silesaurids Temporal range: ?Middle Triassic – Late Triassic, ?
| |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Ornithodira |
Clade: | Dinosauromorpha |
Clade: | Dinosauriformes |
Clade: | Dracohors |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | †Ornithischia (?) |
Family: | †Silesauridae Langer et al., 2010 |
Subgroups | |
|
Silesauridae is an extinct family of Triassic dinosauriforms. It is most commonly considered to be a clade of non-dinosaur dinosauriforms, and the sister group of dinosaurs.[1][2][3][4][5] Some studies have instead suggested that most or all silesaurids comprised an early diverging clade or a paraphyletic grade within ornithischian dinosaurs.[6][7][8][9] Silesaurids have a consistent general body plan, with a fairly long neck and legs and possibly quadrupedal habits, but most silesaurids are heavily fragmentary nonetheless. Furthermore, they occupied a variety of ecological niches, with early silesaurids (such as Lewisuchus)[10] being carnivorous and later taxa (such as Kwanasaurus)[11] having adaptations for specialized herbivory. As indicated by the contents of referred coprolites, Silesaurus may have been insectivorous, feeding selectively on small beetles and other arthropods.[12]
Kammereretal2012
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Ornithoscelida
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search