Silesauridae
Sign in to saveAlso known as Silesaurid, Silesaurids, Silesaur, Silesaurs, Silesaurian, Silesaurians
Silesauridae is an extinct family of early dinosauriforms which lived during the Triassic Period. Their fossils have been found in Europe, North America, South America, and Africa, reaching peak diversity early in the Late Triassic. The exact affinities of silesaurids are debated, and various studies come to different conclusions regarding the relationship between silesaurids and early dinosaurs.
~21 min read
Encyclopedic overview
11 sectionsContents
- Description
- Size
- Skull and teeth
- Shoulder and forelimb
- Hip and hindlimb
- Classification
- Silesaurid subgroups
- Silesaurids as the sister group to dinosaurs
- Silesaurids as early ornithischians
- References
- External links
Silesauridae is an extinct family of early dinosauriforms which lived during the Triassic Period. Their fossils have been found in Europe, North America, South America, and Africa, reaching peak diversity early in the Late Triassic. The exact affinities of silesaurids are debated, and various studies come to different conclusions regarding the relationship between silesaurids and early dinosaurs.
Some studies regard silesaurids as a clade of non-dinosaur dinosauriforms, as well as the sister group of dinosaurs. In other words, all silesaurid species originated from a single common ancestor which evolved adjacent to, but not within, the group Dinosauria.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Silesauridae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.