archosaur
Americannoun
any reptile of the subclass Archosauria, including the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and crocodilians and characterized by two pairs of openings in the temporal region of the skull.
Any of various mostly reptilian animals of the subclass Archosauria. Archosaurs are diapsids that began to evolve in the late Permian Period, and are characterized by skulls with long, narrow snouts and teeth set in sockets. Archosaurs include the extinct dinosaurs and pterosaurs and the modern crocodilians and birds.
Other Word Forms
- archosaurian adjective
Etymology
Origin of archosaur
1965–70; < New LatinArchosaurus, taken as singular ofArchosauria, equivalent to Greekarcho-, combining form ofarchós ruler, chief +saûr (os )-saur + New Latin-ia-ia
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Coprolites attributed to the archosaur Smok—a fearsome 5-meter-long bipedal predator with serrated teeth and powerful jaws—contained the crushed bones and teeth of its prey.
FromScience Magazine
Crocodiles and birds share their heritage with dinosaurs, and together with pterosaurs they form a group known as archosaurs or "ruling reptiles," who date back to the Early Triassic.
FromScience Daily
Paleobiologist Stephan Lautenschlager of the University of Birmingham in England discovered this connection while digging through skull measurements of hundreds of extinct archosaurs—the taxonomic group that includes birds, crocodiles and all of their ancestors.
But they would not be the first members of the broader family dinosaurs were members of, the archosaurs, to potentially make the switch.
FromNew York Times
In general, scientists thought body size remained similar among the first archosaurs - the larger reptile group that includes birds, crocodilians, non-avian dinosaurs, and pterosaurs - and the earliest ornithodirans.
FromBBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
