Re: Lewisuchus, a Dinosauromorph?

["Mickey Mortimer" <Mickey_Mortimer11@msn.com>]

Ken Kinman wrote-

>      Who was it that thought that Lewisuchus was a primitive theropod?
Why?
>   And why was this assignment rejected?
>      If not a theropod, could it still be a primitive dinosauromorph, near
> Lagerpeton or lagosuchids?

George is mostly right, Paul (1988) assigned Lewisuchus to the Lagosuchidae,
which were dinosaurs, but not theropods, in his phylogeny.  Recent studies
by Arcucci (http://www.cmnh.org/fun/dinosaur-archive/1998Oct/msg00518.html,
see also the Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs) have indicated it is a dinosauriform
and possibly synonymous with Pseudolagosuchus.  However, Parrish (1993)
found Lewisuchus to be a suchian based on cranial and tarsal characters.

Mickey Mortimer