{{Short description|Genus of reptiles}} {{for|the Hymenopteran genus|Rileya}} {{Speciesbox | genus = Rileyasuchus | fossil_range = [[Late Triassic]], {{fossilrange|Rhaetian|earliest=Norian|latest=Hettangian}} | parent_authority = [[Oskar Kuhn|Kuhn]], 1961 | species = bristolensis | authority = (von Huene, 1902) | synonyms = *''Rileya bristolensis'' <small>[[Friedrich von Huene|von Huene]], 1902 ([[Rileya|preoccupied]])</small> }}
'''''Rileyasuchus''''' is a [[genus]] of [[phytosaur]] from the [[Rhaetian]] ([[Late Triassic]]) [[Magnesian Conglomerate]] of [[England]]. It has a confusing history, being associated with the taxonomy of ''[[Palaeosaurus]]'' and ''[[Thecodontosaurus]]'', and being a replacement name for a preoccupied genus (''[[Rileya]]'', which had already been used by Ashmead, and Howard both in 1888 for a [[hymenopteran]]).<ref name=LOH88>Howard, L.O. (1888). The chalcid genus ''Rileya''. Canadian Entomology 20:191-195.</ref><ref name=WHA88>Ashmead, W.H. (1888). A revised generic table of the Euryrtominae, with descriptions of new species. Pt I. Entomol. Am. 4:41-43.</ref>
==History and taxonomy== In 1902, [[Friedrich von Huene]] named the new genus for two [[vertebra]]e and a [[humerus]] from deposits in [[Bristol]].<ref name=FVH02>von Huene, F. (1902). Überischt über die Reptilien der Trias. ''Geologische und Paläontologie Abhandlungen, Neu Folge'' 8:97-156. [German]</ref> He had recognized it as a phytosaur by 1908 (by which point a few ''Palaeosaurus'' species had been added to the genus).<ref name=FVH08>von Huene, F. (1908). On phytosaurian remains from the Magnesian Conglomerate of Bristol (''Rileya platyodon''). ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History'', series 8 1:228-230.</ref>
It seems to have sat unrecognized for most of the 20th century, except for 1961 when [[Oskar Kuhn]] renamed it from ''Rileya'' to ''Rileyasuchus''.<ref name=OK61>Kuhn, O. (1961). ''Die Familien der rezenten und fossilen Amphibien und Reptilien.'' Meisenbach:Bamberg, 79 p.</ref> [[Adrian Hunt]] in 1994 (doctoral dissertation) first suggested that it was a [[Herrerasauridae|herrerasaurid]], although this was never published.<ref name=APH94>Hunt, A.P. (1994). Unpublished doctoral dissertation, [http://dml.cmnh.org/2000Feb/msg00297.html discussed here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017170227/http://dml.cmnh.org/2000Feb/msg00297.html |date=2006-10-17 }}</ref> Benton ''et al.'' (2000) indicated that the [[holotype|type specimen]] was actually a [[chimera (paleontology)|chimera]] composed of a phytosaur humerus and ''[[Thecodontosaurus]]'' vertebrae.<ref name=BJSG00>Benton, M.J, Juul, L., Storrs, G.W., and Galton, P.M. (2000). Anatomy and systematics of the prosauropod dinosaur ''Thecodontosaurus antiquus'' from the upper Triassic of southwest England. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 20(1):77-108.</ref> It is best regarded as a ''[[nomen dubium]]''.
''Rileya'' was named after [[palaeontologist]] and [[surgeon]] [[Henry Riley (scientist)|Henry Riley]] who helped to discover the first known fossils in [[Bristol]] in 1834.
==Paleobiology== As a phytosaur, it would have been a semi-[[aquatic animal|aquatic]] [[crocodile]]-like [[predator]].
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://dml.cmnh.org/2000Feb/msg00297.html ''Rileyasuchus'' as herrerasaurid] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017170227/http://dml.cmnh.org/2000Feb/msg00297.html |date=2006-10-17 }}
{{Phytosauria}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q15378969}}
[[Category:Phytosauria]] [[Category:Late Triassic reptiles of Europe]] [[Category:Taxa named by Oskar Kuhn]] [[Category:Prehistoric reptile genera]] [[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1961]]