View source for Compsosaurus

{{Article for deletion/dated}}{{confused|Compsognathus|Compsosuchus}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [[Late Triassic]], {{Fossil range|205.6|201.6|earliest=Carnian}}
| image = 
| image_caption = 
| taxon = Compsosaurus
| authority = [[Joseph Leidy|Leidy]], 1856
| type_species = †'''''Compsosaurus priscus''''' 
| type_species_authority = Leidy, 1856
| synonyms = 
*''[[Belodon]] priscus''? <small>Leidy, 1856</small>
}}
'''''Compsosaurus''''' (meaning "elegant lizard" <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070328204157/http://www.dinosauria.com/dml/names/phyto.htm Phytosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide] from Dinosauria.com</ref>) is an [[extinct]] [[genus]] of [[phytosaur]], a crocodile-like reptile that lived during the [[Triassic]]. Its fossils have been found in [[North Carolina]]. The [[type species]], '''''Compsosaurus priscus''''', was named by American [[paleontology|paleontologist]] Joseph Leidy in 1856,<ref>J. Leidy. 1856. Notice of some remains of extinct vertebrated animals. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 163-165</ref> although other sources say 1857.<ref>[https://www.gbif.org/species/162883756 ''Compsosaurus''] at [[GBIF]].org</ref><ref>Rees, T. (compiler) (2020). ''The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera''. Available from http://www.irmng.org at VLIZ. Accessed 2020-03-24</ref><ref>GBIF Secretariat (2019). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2020-07-15.</ref> ''Compsosaurus'' may have been the same animal as the related ''Belodon''.

Only four teeth are known, discovered in the [[Carnian]]-[[Rhaetian]]-aged coal fields of [[Chatham County, North Carolina|Chatham County]], North Carolina (probably [[Red Sandstone Formation]]).<ref>[http://www.paleofile.com/Pseudosuchia/Compsosaurus.asp ''Compsosaurus''] at [[Paleofile]].org</ref>

==References==
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{{Archosauriformes|Ph.}}
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[[Category:Nomina dubia]]
[[Category:Phytosaurs of North America]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1856]]


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