''Rhynchosaurus'' (''beaked lizard'') is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

rhynchosaur Rhynchosaurs are a group of extinct herbivorous Triassic archosauromorph reptiles, belonging to the order Rhynchosauria. Members of the group are distinguished by their triangular skulls and elongated, beak like premaxillary bones. Rhynchosaur ...

that lived during the

Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epochs of the Triassic period or the middle of three series in which the Triassic system is divided in chronostratigraphy. The Middle Triassic spans the time between Ma ...

period. It lived in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

. It was related to the

archosaurs Archosauria () is a clade of diapsids, with birds and crocodilians as the only living representatives. Archosaurs are broadly classified as reptiles, in the cladistic sense of the term which includes birds. Extinct archosaurs include non-avia ...

, but not within that group. The type species of ''Rhynchosaurus'' is ''R. articeps''.

Michael Benton Michael James Benton One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: (born 8 April 1956) is a British palaeontologist, and professor of vertebrate palaeontology in the School of Earth Sciences ...

named two additional species, ''R. spenceri'' and ''R. brodiei'', but they were subsequently renamed '' Fodonyx'' and '' Langeronyx'' respectively.Martín D. Ezcurra, Felipe Montefeltro and Richard J. Butler (2016). "The Early Evolution of Rhynchosaurs". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 3: Article 142. doi:10.3389/fevo.2015.00142. Fossils of ''Rhynchosaurus'' have been found in the Tarporley Siltstone Formation (

Mercia Mudstone Group The Mercia Mudstone Group is an early Triassic lithostratigraphic group (a sequence of rock strata) which is widespread in Britain, especially in the English Midlands – the name is derived from the ancient kingdom of Mercia which corresponds to ...

) and possibly the

Sherwood Sandstone Group The Sherwood Sandstone Group is a Triassic lithostratigraphic group (a sequence of rock strata) which is widespread in Britain, especially in the English Midlands. The name is derived from Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire which is underlain by ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

.''Rhynchosaurus''
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database, a large relational database assembled by hundreds of paleontologists from around the world. History Fossilworks was cre ...

.org

References

External links

Archosauromorpha
at Paleofile Rhynchosaurs Middle Triassic reptiles of Europe Anisian genus first appearances Anisian genus extinctions Fossils of England Fossil taxa described in 1842 Taxa named by Richard Owen Prehistoric reptile genera {{triassic-reptile-stub