Description

Phytosaur
Late Triassic (Norian)
Upper Redonda Formation, Chinle Group
Quay County, New Mexico, USA

8mm tooth on 25mm matrix.

Phytosaurs (Order Phytosauria) were crocodile-like archosaurs that lived during the Late Triassic of various parts of North America.  Some species were larger than any crocodile living today, exceeding 25 feet in length.  The group died out during the end-Triassic mass extinction.

Phytosaurus were related to crocodilians and dinosaurs – all members of the Archosauria. Only crocodilians and birds remain today.