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Palaeosaurus Temporal range: Late Triassic,
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Teeth BRSMG *Ca7449/4 (left) and BRSMG *Ca7448/3 (right) - of which both comprise the holotype | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
Clade: | Archosauriformes |
Clade: | Archosauria |
Genus: | †Palaeosaurus Riley and Stutchbury, 1836 |
Type species | |
†Palaeosaurus cylindrodon Riley and Stutchbury, 1840
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Synonyms | |
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Palaeosaurus (or Paleosaurus) is a genus of indeterminate archosaur known from two teeth found in the Bromsgrove Sandstone Formation and also either the Magnesian Conglomerate or the Avon Fissure Fill of Clifton, Bristol, England (originally Avon).[1] It has had a convoluted taxonomic history.[2]
Richard Owen's mistake of associating prosauropod skeletal remains with the carnivorous teeth which Riley and Stutchbury called Palaeosaurus, combined with Friedrich von Huene's Teratosaurus minor, which was also a combination of carnivore and prosauropod remains, led paleontologists to view prosauropods as carnivorous animals for quite a long time. This error made it into several textbooks and other dinosaur reference works.[2]