Dinocephalosaurus is a genus of long necked, aquatic protorosaur that inhabited the Triassic seas of China. The genus contains the type and only known species, D. orientalis, which was named by Chun Li in 2003. Unlike other long-necked protorosaurs, Dinocephalosaurus convergently evolved a long neck not through elongation of individual neck vertebrae, but through the addition of neck vertebrae that each had a moderate length. As indicated by phylogenetic analyses, it belonged in a separate lineage that also included at least its closest relative Pectodens, which was named the Dinocephalosauridae in 2021. Like tanystropheids, however, Dinocephalosaurus probably used its long neck to hunt, utilizing the fang-like teeth of its jaws to ensnare prey; proposals that it employed suction feeding have not been universally accepted. It was probably a marine animal by necessity, as suggested by the poorly-ossified and paddle-like limbs which would have prevented it from going ashore.
Archosauromorpha is a clade of diapsid reptiles containing all reptiles more closely related to archosaurs rather than lepidosaurs. Archosauromorphs first appeared during the late Middle Permian or Late Permian, though they became much more common and diverse during the Triassic period.
Tanystropheus is an extinct genus of archosauromorph reptile which lived during the Triassic Period in Europe, Asia, and North America. It is recognisable by its extremely elongated neck, longer than the torso and tail combined. The neck was composed of 13 vertebrae strengthened by extensive cervical ribs. Tanystropheus is one of the most well-described non-archosauriform archosauromorphs, known from numerous fossils, including nearly complete skeletons. Some species within the genus may have reached a total length of 6 meters (20 ft), making Tanystropheus the longest non-archosauriform archosauromorph as well. Tanystropheus is the namesake of the family Tanystropheidae, a clade collecting many long-necked Triassic archosauromorphs previously described as "protorosaurs" or "prolacertiforms".
Protorosaurus is an extinct genus of reptile. Members of the genus lived during the late Permian period in what is now Germany and Great Britain. Once believed to have been an ancestor to lizards, Protorosaurus is now known to be one of the oldest and most primitive members of Archosauromorpha, the group that would eventually lead to archosaurs such as crocodilians and dinosaurs.
Drepanosaurs are a group of extinct reptiles that lived between the Carnian and Rhaetian stages of the late Triassic Period, approximately between 230 and 210 million years ago. The various species of drepanosaurid were characterized by specialized grasping limbs and often prehensile tails, adaptions for arboreal (tree-dwelling) and fossorial (digging) lifestyles, with some having also been suggested to be aquatic. Fossils of drepanosaurs have been found in Arizona, New Mexico, New Jersey, Utah, England, and northern Italy. The name is taken from the family's namesake genus Drepanosaurus, which means "sickle lizard," a reference to their strongly curved claws.
Malerisaurus is an extinct genus of archosauromorph known from Telangana of India and Texas of the USA.
Langobardisaurus is an extinct genus of tanystropheid archosauromorph reptile, with one valid species, L. pandolfii. Its fossils have been found in Italy and Austria, and it lived during the Late Triassic period, roughly 228 to 201 million years ago. Langobardisaurus was initially described in 1994, based on fossils from the Calcare di Zorzino Formation in Northern Italy. Fossils of the genus are also known from the Forni Dolostone of Northern Italy and the Seefeld Formation of Austria.
Czatkowiella is an extinct genus of long-necked archosauromorph known from Early Triassic rocks of Czatkowice 1, Poland. It was first named by Magdalena Borsuk−Białynicka and Susan E. Evans in 2009 and the type species is Czatkowiella harae.
Protorosauria is an extinct, likely paraphyletic group of basal archosauromorph reptiles from the latest Middle Permian to the end of the Late Triassic of Asia, Europe and North America. It was named by the English anatomist and paleontologist Thomas Henry Huxley in 1871 as an order, originally to solely contain Protorosaurus. Other names which were once considered equivalent to Protorosauria include Prolacertiformes and Prolacertilia.
Pamelaria is an extinct genus of allokotosaurian archosauromorph reptile known from a single species, Pamelaria dolichotrachela, from the Middle Triassic of India. Pamelaria has sprawling legs, a long neck, and a pointed skull with nostrils positioned at the very tip of the snout. Among early archosauromorphs, Pamelaria is most similar to Prolacerta from the Early Triassic of South Africa and Antarctica. Both have been placed in the family Prolacertidae. Pamelaria, Prolacerta, and various other Permo-Triassic reptiles such as Protorosaurus and Tanystropheus have often been placed in a group of archosauromorphs called Protorosauria, which was regarded as one of the most basal group of archosauromorphs. However, more recent phylogenetic analyses indicate that Pamelaria and Prolacerta are more closely related to Archosauriformes than are Protorosaurus, Tanystropheus, and other protorosaurs, making Protorosauria a polyphyletic grouping.
Tanystropheidae is an extinct family of archosauromorph reptiles that lived throughout the Triassic Period, often considered to be "protorosaurs". They are characterized by their long, stiff necks formed from elongated cervical vertebrae with very long cervical ribs. Members of the group include both terrestrial and aquatic forms. While some tanystropheids were small lizard-like animals, other tanystropheids such as Tanystropheus were large animals that had necks that were several meters long, longer than the rest of their bodies.
Prolacertoides is an extinct genus of archosauromorph reptile from the Early Triassic of China, the type species being Prolacertoides jimusarensis. Prolacertoides means 'like Prolacerta', in reference to Prolacerta, another genus of archosauromorph which Prolacertoides was once believed to have been closely related to. Prolacertoides is known from a single partial skull, IVPP V3233, which was discovered in Xinjiang in northwestern China. The locality of its discovery belongs to the Cangfanggou Group of the Jiucaiyuan Formation, which is dated to the Induan age of the very early Triassic.
Eorasaurus is an extinct genus of archosauromorph reptile known from the middle Late Permian of Tatarstan, European Russia. It contains a single species, Eorasaurus olsoni. When originally described by Sennikov (1997), Eorasaurus was identified as an early archosauromorph and assigned to the family Protorosauridae, Ezcurra et al. (2014) and Ezcurra (2016) later reclassified Eorasaurus and placed it within the group Archosauriformes. Eorasaurus is based solely on scant fossil material from the neck region, and is thus considered an unstable taxon in phylogenetic analyses. If Eorasaurus is an archosauriform, it would be the oldest known member of the group and would pre-date the previous record holder.
Ozimek is a genus of sharovipterygid archosauromorph reptile, known from Late Triassic deposits in Poland and closely related to the Kyrgyzstani Sharovipteryx. It contains one species, O. volans, named in 2016 by Jerzy Dzik and Tomasz Sulej. Like Sharovipteryx, Ozimek had long, slender limbs with the hindlimbs longer than the forelimbs; the hindlimbs likely supported gliding membranes as fossilized in Sharovipteryx. Another unusual characteristic was the shoulder girdle, where the massive coracoids formed a shield-like structure covering the bottom of the shoulder region that would have limited mobility. In other respects, such as its long neck, it was a typical member of the non-natural grouping Protorosauria. Phylogenetic analysis has indicated that it, possibly along with Sharovipteryx, may have been an unusual member of the protorosaur group Tanystropheidae, although further study of its anatomy is needed to resolve its precise relationships.
Boreopricea is an extinct genus of archosauromorph reptile from the Early Triassic of arctic Russia. It is known from a fairly complete skeleton discovered in a borehole on Kolguyev Island, though damage to the specimen and loss of certain bones has complicated study of the genus. Boreopricea shared many similarities with various other archosauromorphs, making its classification controversial. Various studies have considered it a close relative of Prolacerta, tanystropheids, both, or neither. Boreopricea is unique among early archosauromorphs due to possessing contact between the jugal and squamosal bones at the rear half of the skull.
Elessaurus is an extinct genus of archosauromorph from the Early Triassic of Brazil. It contains a single species, Elessaurus gondwanoccidens. It possessed a variety of features common to basal archosauromorphs, particularly basal tanystropheids such as Macrocnemus. However, it is uncertain whether Elessaurus was a particularly close relative of tanystropheids, and it might instead be closer to other major archosauromorph clades. The genus name refers to "Elessar", an alternate name of the character Aragorn from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Trachelosaurus is an extinct genus of lizard-like early archosauromorph reptiles in the family Trachelosauridae. It was originally described as a dinosaur until it was redescribed as a "protorosaur" reptile by Robert L. Carroll in 1988. The type species, T. fischeri, was described by F. Broili & E. Fischer in 1917 based on remains found in the Solling Formation (Buntsandstein), Bernburg, Germany. A 2024 redescription identified Trachelosaurus as a long-necked and presumably aquatic reptile closely related to Dinocephalosaurus from the Guanling Formation of China.
Trachelosauridae is an extinct clade of archosauromorph reptiles that lived throughout the Triassic period. Like their close relatives the tanystropheids, they were "protorosaur"-grade archosauromorphs characterized by their long necks. Unlike tanystropheids, which lengthen their neck primarily by elongating the individual cervical (neck) vertebrae, trachelosaurids achieved their long necks by the addition of more vertebrae. The most extreme example of this trend was Dinocephalosaurus, which had at least 32 vertebrae in the neck alone, far more than the 13 neck vertebrae of Tanystropheus.
Gracilicollum is an extinct genus of likely tanysaurian archosauromorph from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) Guanling Formation of China. The genus contains a single species, G. latens, known from a skull and partial neck.
This list of fossil reptiles described in 2024 is a list of new taxa of fossil reptiles that were described during the year 2024, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to reptile paleontology that occurred in 2024.
