Delving through the confusion of

Phytosauridae, the Phytosaurs

Artists rendition of a Rutiodon (foreground) (Palaeos, 2013).

           Phytosaurs are an extinct clade of archosauriform, a crocodilian-like tetrapod that lived during the late Triassic (Kischlat and Lewis, 2003; Senter, 2002; Stocker and Butler, 2013).  Their fossilized remains, first found in central Europe, have been found for many years and in Upper Triassic formations all over the world (Stocker and Butler, 2013).  There is much debate amongst paleontologists over the proper classifications of the species within the clade and their relationships.  Dr. Charles Lewis Camp was the first to attempt to properly classify phytosaurs in his 1930 publication (Ballew, 1989).  This work laid the foundation that paleontologists have worked from since.  Most classification attempts rely solely on comparative anatomy of fossils, although many of the fossil remains are incomplete.