Ctenosauriscids Temporal range: Early-Middle Triassic,
Vertebrae of the ctenosauriscid Ctenosauriscus koeneni
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauria
Clade:	Pseudosuchia
Superfamily:	†Poposauroidea
Family:	†Ctenosauriscidae Kuhn, 1964
Genera
†Arizonasaurus †Bromsgroveia †Bystrowisuchus †Ctenosauriscus †Hypselorhachis †Tsylmosuchus? †Xilousuchus

Ctenosauriscidae is an extinct family of pseudosuchian archosaurs within the clade Poposauroidea.^[1] Ctenosauriscids existed in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America during the Early Triassic to the Middle Triassic period (latest Olenekian to Anisian stages).^[1] All species had large "sails" on their backs. Ctenosauriscids are among some of the earliest archosaurs and represent the first global radiation of the group.^[2]

Genera

Genus	Status	Age	Location	Unit	Notes	Images
Arizonasaurus	Valid	Anisian	USA	Moenkopi Formation		Arizonasaurus Ctenosauriscus Some fossils of the "Waldhaus ctenosauriscid"
Bromsgroveia	Valid	Anisian	United Kingdom	Bromsgrove Sandstone Formation
Bystrowisuchus	Valid	Olenekian	Russia	Lipovskaya Formation
Ctenosauriscus	Valid	Olenekian	Germany	Solling Formation	Ctenosauriscus is one of the oldest archosaurs known to date.[2]
Hypselorhachis	Valid	Anisian	Tanzania	Manda Formation
"Waldhaus" ctenosauriscid	Valid	Anisian	Germany	Röt Formation
Xilousuchus	Valid	Olenekian	China	Heshanggou Formation	Xilousuchus is one of the oldest archosaurs known to date.[2]

Phylogeny

Ctenosauriscidae was named by Oskar Kuhn in 1964 to include the genus Ctenosauriscus.^[3] It is a stem-based taxon defined by Richard J. Butler, Stephen L. Brusatte, Mike Reich, Sterling J. Nesbitt, Rainer R. Schoch and Jahn J. Hornung in 2011 as "the most inclusive clade containing Ctenosauriscus koeneni but not Poposaurus gracilis, Effigia okeeffeae, Postosuchus kirkpatricki, Crocodylus niloticus, Ornithosuchus longidens, or Aetosaurus ferratus".^[2] The cladograms below follows a 2011 analysis by Butler et al., the first based on Brusatte et al. 2010^[4] and the second based on Nesbitt 2011.^[1]

Arizonasaurus model, Museum am Lowentor, Stuttgart

References