Aetosauria

Aetosaurs are heavily armored reptiles belonging to the extinct order Aetosauria. They were medium- to large-sized omnivorous or herbivorous pseudosuchians, part of the branch of archosaurs more closely related to crocodilians than to birds and non-avian dinosaurs. All known aetosaurs are restricted to the Late Triassic, and in some strata from this time they are among the most abundant fossil vertebrates. They have small heads, upturned snouts, erect limbs, and a body ornamented with four rows of plate-like osteoderms. Aetosaur fossil remains are known from Europe, North and South America, parts of Africa, and India. Since their armoured plates are often preserved and are abundant in certain localities, aetosaurs serve as important Late Triassic tetrapod index fossils. Many aetosaurs had wide geographic ranges, but their stratigraphic ranges were relatively short. Therefore, the presence of particular aetosaurs can accurately date a site in which they are found.

Aetosauria

Evolutionnumber9 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
aetosaurPBDB
Sits inside
SuchiaPBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Diapsida

Time the record covers

At least 133 million years on record.

The record covers at least 247 Mya to 113.2 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 250.8 Mya to 100.5 Mya.

Permian — about 0 of 503 occurrencesEarly Triassic — about 1 of 503 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 3 of 503 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 388 of 503 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 100 of 503 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 0 of 503 occurrencesMiddle JurassicLate Jurassic — about 0 of 503 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 10 of 503 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 0 of 503 occurrences254–249 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences249–243 Mya — about 2 occurrences243–238 Mya — about 1 occurrence238–233 Mya — about 15 occurrences233–228 Mya — about 20 occurrences228–223 Mya — about 75 occurrences223–217 Mya — about 80 occurrences217–212 Mya — about 83 occurrences212–207 Mya — about 81 occurrences207–202 Mya — about 33 occurrences202–196 Mya — about 73 occurrences196–191 Mya — about 24 occurrences191–186 Mya — about 2 occurrences186–181 Mya — about 1 occurrence181–176 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences176–170 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences170–165 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences165–160 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences160–155 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences155–150 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences150–144 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences144–139 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences139–134 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences134–129 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences129–124 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences124–118 Mya — about 3 occurrences118–113 Mya — about 3 occurrences113–108 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences108–103 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences103–97 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences247 Mya113.2 Mya254 Mya97 Mya

503 occurrences of Aetosauria on record, most of them in the Late Triassic. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group, and the chart stops with its fossils rather than at the present. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

503 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

69 formations

Chinle — 34.44°N, 109.46°WChinle — 36.32°N, 106.47°WChinle — 35.05°N, 109.83°WChinle — 35.09°N, 109.79°WChinle — 34.87°N, 109.80°WChinle — 35.12°N, 110.55°WChinle — 34.83°N, 109.82°WChinle — 34.51°N, 109.36°WChinle — 36.26°N, 106.81°WChinle — 35.84°N, 111.25°WChinle — 36.09°N, 111.36°WChinle — 35.90°N, 111.29°WChinle — 35.65°N, 111.12°WChinle — 36.40°N, 106.50°WChinle — 39.83°N, 106.33°WChinle — 38.44°N, 109.93°WChinle — 35.38°N, 109.37°WChinle — 34.68°N, 109.58°WChinle — 34.53°N, 109.32°WChinle — 34.94°N, 109.74°WChinle — 34.81°N, 109.86°WChinle — 35.28°N, 109.15°WChinle — 35.63°N, 109.16°WChinle — 35.63°N, 109.10°WChinle — 35.35°N, 109.20°WChinle — 36.00°N, 109.45°WChinle — 35.67°N, 109.05°WChinle — 34.73°N, 109.67°WChinle — 35.47°N, 108.53°WChinle — 36.58°N, 106.83°WChinle — 36.31°N, 106.45°WChinle — 36.10°N, 106.20°WChinle — 36.38°N, 109.57°WChinle — 35.60°N, 106.86°WChinle — 39.83°N, 106.90°WChinle — 35.92°N, 111.45°WPortland — 42.28°N, 72.56°WPortland — 42.61°N, 72.55°WPortland — 41.69°N, 72.64°WPortland — 42.61°N, 72.51°WPortland — 41.55°N, 72.69°WPortland — 41.73°N, 72.66°WTurners Falls — 42.61°N, 72.53°WTecovas — 33.43°N, 101.16°WTecovas — 33.42°N, 101.15°WTecovas — 33.59°N, 101.11°WTecovas — 34.96°N, 101.70°WTecovas — 35.36°N, 102.16°WTecovas — 33.50°N, 101.07°WTecovas — 33.67°N, 100.83°WTecovas — 33.58°N, 101.17°WGarita Creek — 35.28°N, 104.40°WGarita Creek — 35.35°N, 104.52°WGarita Creek — 35.33°N, 104.33°WGarita Creek — 35.48°N, 105.88°WGarita Creek — 35.28°N, 104.55°WCooper Canyon — 33.52°N, 101.32°WCooper Canyon — 33.00°N, 101.15°WCooper Canyon — 33.04°N, 101.38°WCooper Canyon — 33.45°N, 101.44°WCooper Canyon — 33.18°N, 101.35°WCooper Canyon — 33.11°N, 101.45°WBluewater Creek — 35.42°N, 108.49°WBluewater Creek — 35.43°N, 108.57°WBluewater Creek — 34.90°N, 107.73°WPassaic — 40.25°N, 75.46°WPassaic — 40.26°N, 75.73°WPassaic — 40.27°N, 75.86°WPassaic — 40.49°N, 74.75°WPassaic — 40.52°N, 75.06°WPassaic — 40.87°N, 74.20°WPassaic — 40.79°N, 74.25°WColorado City — 32.18°N, 101.25°WColorado City — 32.17°N, 101.25°WColorado City — 32.13°N, 101.26°WColorado City — 32.82°N, 101.43°WIschigualasto — 31.10°S, 68.90°WIschigualasto — 30.12°S, 67.88°WLöwenstein — 49.06°N, 8.98°ELöwenstein — 48.74°N, 9.13°ELöwenstein — 49.05°N, 9.00°ELöwenstein — 48.76°N, 9.14°ELöwenstein — 48.76°N, 9.21°ELöwenstein — 48.07°N, 8.65°ELöwenstein — 49.10°N, 9.38°ELöwenstein — 48.73°N, 9.00°EPekin — 35.56°N, 79.28°WPekin — 35.22°N, 79.83°WPekin — 35.20°N, 79.87°WPekin — 35.64°N, 79.00°WBull Canyon — 35.37°N, 103.38°WBull Canyon — 35.10°N, 103.40°WBull Canyon — 35.10°N, 103.55°WSanta Rosa — 35.17°N, 105.75°WSanta Rosa — 35.53°N, 105.75°WMoenave — 37.10°N, 113.53°WMoenave — 37.21°N, 112.12°WMoenave — 37.09°N, 113.56°WMoenave — 36.00°N, 111.25°WMoenave — 37.01°N, 113.40°WRedonda — 34.94°N, 103.43°WRedonda — 34.97°N, 103.46°WRedonda — 34.98°N, 103.33°WRedonda — 35.07°N, 103.63°WRedonda — 35.00°N, 103.67°WLos Colorados — 29.97°S, 67.90°WLos Colorados — 29.85°S, 68.15°WLos Colorados — 29.85°S, 68.03°WLos Colorados — 32.49°S, 68.89°WSanta Maria — 29.70°S, 53.77°WSanta Maria — 29.63°S, 54.13°WSanta Maria — 29.66°S, 53.44°WEast Berlin — 41.34°N, 72.77°WEast Berlin — 41.65°N, 72.66°WEast Berlin — 42.29°N, 72.60°WElliot — 30.22°S, 27.52°EElliot — 30.40°S, 27.52°EElliot — 30.40°S, 27.72°EPetrified Forest — 36.21°N, 106.62°WPetrified Forest — 34.64°N, 107.48°WPetrified Forest — 35.32°N, 106.31°WTrujillo — 35.15°N, 103.48°WTrujillo — 35.35°N, 104.52°WTrujillo — 35.00°N, 103.38°WMcCoy Brook — 45.40°N, 64.21°WMcCoy Brook — 45.40°N, 64.11°WJinju — 35.00°N, 128.00°EJinju — 35.23°N, 128.12°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Aetosauria has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 45 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 7 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Aetosauria and its relatives

Late Triassic

Where Aetosauria and its relatives were recorded in the Late Triassic.

Found in the same rock

540 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 328 sites for Aetosauria, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

183 references

Each of the 503 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 171 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Aetosauria

Credit
Evolutionnumber9
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Photogrammetry

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Aetosauria indet. · ypm:vp:065719

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itSuchia through timeFormations of the Late TriassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Lydekker 1889)