rauisuchid

fossil reptile

Also known as: rauisuchian

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Last updated

July 20, 2026

Quick Summary

Rauisuchids were a group of extinct reptiles that lived during the Triassic Period (251 million to 200 million years ago). They were part of the Pseudosuchia branch of archosaurs, which are reptiles more closely related to crocodiles than to birds.1

These were carnivorous reptiles, distinct from the armored, herbivorous aetosaurs within the same pseudosuchian group. Rauisuchids, along with other pseudosuchians like phytosaurs and poposaurs, were among the diverse archosaur forms that appeared in the Middle Triassic. Unlike the bipedal ornithosuchians (which include dinosaurs and birds), pseudosuchians like rauisuchids were typically quadrupedal.1

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crurotarsan
…the ornithosuchians (“bird crocodiles”), the rauisuchids (“Rau’s crocodiles”), and several single, ungrouped taxa. There is much disagreement concerning the evolutionary position of the ornithosuchids within the Crurotarsi, because they appear to possess both crocodilian and dinosaur-like features that paleontologists have not fully sorted out. In addition, there is much debate…
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…the ornithosuchians (“bird crocodiles”), the rauisuchids (“Rau’s crocodiles”), and several single, ungrouped taxa. There is much disagreement concerning the evolutionary position of the ornithosuchids within the Crurotarsi, because they appear to possess both crocodilian and dinosaur-like features that paleontologists have not fully sorted out. In addition, there is much debate…
Read More