Compsosaurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}} {{confused|Compsognathus|Compsosuchus}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = [[Late Triassic]], {{Fossil range|205.6|201.6}} | image = | image_caption = | taxon = Compsosaurus | authority = [[Joseph Leidy|Leidy]], 1856 | type_species = †'''''Compsosaurus priscus''''' | type_species_authority = Leidy, 1856 | synonyms = *''[[Belodon]] priscus''? <small>[[Joseph Leidy|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>[[Joseph Leidy|Leidy. J.]] (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]]) and the [[New Oxford Formation]] of [[Pennsylvania]].<ref>[http://www.paleofile.com/Pseudosuchia/Compsosaurus.asp ''Compsosaurus''] at [[Paleofile]].org</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Phytosauria]] [[Category:Prehistoric reptile genera]] [[Category:Late Triassic reptiles of North America]] [[Category:Triassic geology of North Carolina]] [[Category:Fossils of North Carolina]] [[Category:Triassic geology of Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Paleontology in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Nomina dubia]] [[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1856]] [[Category:Taxa named by Joseph Leidy]]