Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various vertebrates of the group Archosauria, having a single opening in each side of the skull in front of the eye socket, and including the dinosaurs, birds, pterosaurs, and modern crocodilians.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun biology Any reptile of the taxon Archosauria; includes the extinct dinosaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs and ichthyosaurs and the modern crocodiles

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun extinct reptiles including: dinosaurs; plesiosaurs; pterosaurs; ichthyosaurs; thecodonts

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin Archosauria, subclass name : Greek arkhos, ruler + Greek sauros, lizard.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From New Latin Archosauria ("taxonomic division of extinct reptiles"), from ἄρχων (archōn, "leader") + σαύρα (saura, "lizard")

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Examples

  • I also read more of the December issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology — "Comparison and biomechanical interpretations of the vertebrae and osteoderms of Cacops aspidephorus and Dissorophus multicinctus (Temnospondyli; Dissorophoridae)," and "A possible new ctenosauriscid archosaur from the Middle Triassic Manda Beds of Tanzania."

    What I Did During My Plague Vacation ( by Me) greygirlbeast 2010

  • I also read more of the December issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology — "Comparison and biomechanical interpretations of the vertebrae and osteoderms of Cacops aspidephorus and Dissorophus multicinctus (Temnospondyli; Dissorophoridae)," and "A possible new ctenosauriscid archosaur from the Middle Triassic Manda Beds of Tanzania."

    What I Did During My Plague Vacation ( by Me) greygirlbeast 2010

  • Pterosaurs are in fact a sister group of crocodilians and dinosaurs (including birds) in the archosaur clade.

    Darwinopterus, the New Flying Reptile 2009

  • And there's been more from the latest Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, papers on the "rauisuchian" archosaur Batrachotomus kupferzellensis; the ontogeny of Stegosaurus; ontogenetic and taxonomic implications of pattern and transition of surficial bone texture of the centrosaurine frill; and Adeopapposaurus, a new prosauropod dinosaur from Argentina.

    "Fill the night with stories. The legend grows." greygirlbeast 2009

  • Pterosaurs are in fact a sister group of crocodilians and dinosaurs (including birds) in the archosaur clade.

    Darwinopterus, the New Flying Reptile » E-Mail 2009

  • Among the remnants are rare fragments of land life that survived the same period, including part of a conifer plant and the tooth of an archosaur reptile.

    Fossil hunters uncover complete 252m year-old underwater world 2010

  • In the June issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, which I'm only just now getting around to, I read the type description of the new species of "rauisuchid" archosaur Postosuchus alisonae from the Triassic of North Carolina.

    At Least I'm Not At Dragon*Con (Part One) greygirlbeast 2008

  • I may have to send this news article to school with her: investigators have found that a mutation in chickens causes them to develop teeth—and the teeth resemble those of the common ancestor of alligators and chickens, an archosaur.

    Chicken, archosaur...same difference - The Panda's Thumb 2006

  • I may have to send this news article to school with her: investigators have found that a mutation in chickens causes them to develop teeth—and the teeth resemble those of the common ancestor of alligators and chickens, an archosaur.

    Chicken, archosaur...same difference - The Panda's Thumb 2006

  • Continue reading "Chicken, archosaur...same difference" on Pharyngula

    Chicken, archosaur...same difference - The Panda's Thumb 2006

Comments

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  • Crocodilians and birds are living descendants of archosaurs. Others went extinct about 195 million years ago (according to Wikipedia).

    September 1, 2008