Archosauriform in the context of "Euparkeria"

Phytosaurs (Φυτόσαυροι in Greek, meaning 'plant lizard') are an extinct group of large, mostly semiaquatic Late Triassic archosauriform or basal archosaurian reptiles. Phytosaurs belong to the order Phytosauria and are sometimes referred to as parasuchians. Phytosauria, Parasuchia, Parasuchidae, and Phytosauridae have often been considered equivalent groupings containing the same species. Some recent studies have offered a more nuanced approach, defining Parasuchidae and Phytosauridae as nested clades within Phytosauria as a whole. The clade Phytosauria was defined by Paul Sereno in 2005 as Rutiodon carolinensis and all taxa more closely related to it than to Aetosaurus ferratus, Rauisuchus tiradentes, Prestosuchus chiniquensis, Ornithosuchus woodwardi, or Crocodylus niloticus (the Nile crocodile). Phytosaurs were long-snouted and heavily armoured, bearing a remarkable resemblance to modern crocodilians in size, appearance, and lifestyle, as an example of convergence or parallel evolution.

The name phytosaur means 'plant lizard', as the first fossils of phytosaurs were mistakenly thought to belong to plant-eaters.

Proterosuchus is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptiles that lived during the Early Triassic. It contains three valid species: the type species P. fergusi and the referred species P. alexanderi and P. goweri. All three species lived in what is now South Africa. The genus was named in 1903 by the South African paleontologist Robert Broom. The genus Chasmatosaurus is a junior synonym of Proterosuchus.

Proterosuchus was a mid-sized quadrupedal reptile with a sprawling stance that could reach a length of up to 3.5 meters (11 ft). It had a large head and distinctively hooked snout. It was a predator, which may have hunted prey such as Lystrosaurus. The lifestyle of Proterosuchus remains debated; it may have been terrestrial or it may have been a semiaquatic ambush predator similar to modern crocodiles.