"Teleocrater" is the informal name

Nomen nudum

The phrase nomen nudum is a Latin term, meaning "naked name", used in taxonomy...

 given to an as yet undescribed genus

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 prehistoric reptile

Reptile

Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...

. It was an archosaur

Archosaur

Archosaurs are a group of diapsid amniotes whose living representatives consist of modern birds and crocodilians. This group also includes all extinct non-avian dinosaurs, many extinct crocodilian relatives, and pterosaurs. Archosauria, the archosaur clade, is a crown group that includes the most...

 (or archosauromorph) originally 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...

. The name "Teleocrater" was coined by English paleontologist

Paleontology

Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...

 Alan Charig in his 1956 doctoral dissertation, but has never been formally published. The same thesis named "Mandasuchus

Mandasuchus

"Mandasuchus" is an extinct genus of prestosuchid rauisuchian that is yet to be formally described. Thus, the name is considered a nomen nudum. Fossils have been found from the Manda Formation of Tanzania and date back to the Ladinian or Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic. The name was first used...

", another archosauriform.
A 2008 bone histology

Histology

Histology is the study of the microscopic anatomy of cells and tissues of plants and animals. It is performed by examining cells and tissues commonly by sectioning and staining; followed by examination under a light microscope or electron microscope...

 study of early archosauriforms tentatively identified "Teleocrater" as an archosauromorph which was closely related to, though outside of, the Erythrosuchidae

Erythrosuchidae

Erythrosuchidae are a family of large basal archosauromorph carnivores that lived from the later Early Triassic to the early Middle Triassic . Their fossil remains are known so far from South Africa , the Perm region of Russia, and China...

, a family of early reptiles slightly predating the true archosaurs. The authors also could not assign a family to "Teleocrater".

External links

• Teleocrater from the Paleobiology Database