Phyt-o-Facts
Smilosuchus was the largest land animal of the Triassic, growing up to 12 meters in length. (Palaeos, 2013).
Even though Phytosaurs looked extremely similar to crocodiles they actually aren't related. Phytosaurs and crocodiles are an example of convergent evolution, meaning that the two groups evolved their similar features seperately. One big difference between phytosaurs and crocodiles is that the nasal passages for crocodiles are near the end of the nose while they were between the eyes on phytosaurs. (Smithsonian).
Links
Paleos is a website with the phylogeny of many different organisms, particularly pre-historic species and very helpful with the classification. Click here to visit the Paleos page on Phytosaurs.
The Smithsonian has a short piece on phytosaurs and convergent evolution in the evidence section of their Geologic Time section.
BioOne is a website that contains a large number of primary research articles and an abundance of information on different species.
Multiple Organisms is a website administered by the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse Biology Department for Biology 203 Organismal Biology and contains a growing number of student made websites on a large array of organisms.