Gracilisuchus
Encyclopedia
Gracilisuchus is an extinct genus
of tiny (30 cm long) crurotarsan (a group which includes the ancestors of crocodilia
ns) from the Middle Triassic
. It was a suchian close to the ancestry of crocodile
s, and was at one time thought to be a dinosaur
, but this hypothesis has since been rejected. Its fossils were first discovered in the 1970s.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of tiny (30 cm long) crurotarsan (a group which includes the ancestors of crocodilia
Crocodilia
Crocodilia is an order of large reptiles that appeared about 84 million years ago in the late Cretaceous Period . They are the closest living relatives of birds, as the two groups are the only known survivors of the Archosauria...
ns) from the Middle Triassic
Middle Triassic
In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epochs of the Triassic period or the middle of three series in which the Triassic system is divided. It spans the time between 245 ± 1.5 Ma and 228 ± 2 Ma...
. It was a suchian close to the ancestry of crocodile
Crocodile
A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
s, and was at one time thought to be a dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
, but this hypothesis has since been rejected. Its fossils were first discovered in the 1970s.