Archosauriformes

Archosauriformes is a group of reptiles that includes Archosauria and several closely related extinct lineages. Its members are united by skeletal features inherited from their common ancestors.

Diapsida: A major reptile group characterized ancestrally by two openings on each side of the skull behind the eye. Archosauriformes belongs within this broad reptile lineage.
Permian–Triassic extinction event: A mass extinction about 252 million years ago that eliminated most marine species and many terrestrial vertebrates. Archosauriform diversification unfolded in ecosystems reshaped by this extinction.
Lepidosauria: The reptile lineage containing tuataras, lizards, and snakes. Lepidosaurs are a major living reptile branch outside Archosauriformes.
Crocodilia: The order containing living crocodiles, alligators, caimans, and gharials. Crocodilians are living archosauriforms within Archosauria.
Archosauria: The reptile group containing crocodilians, birds, and their extinct relatives. This major subgroup gives Archosauriformes its familiar living members.
Proterosuchus: An early archosauriform genus known from Triassic fossils in southern Africa and elsewhere. Its fossils document some of the earliest members of the group.
Prolacerta: An extinct Permian–Triassic reptile genus often placed outside Archosauriformes among early diapsids. Its debated position illustrates the boundary between archosauriforms and nearby diapsids.
Dinosauria: The clade of reptiles that includes birds and all extinct non-avian dinosaurs. Dinosaurs form another major archosaurian branch within Archosauriformes.
Crown group: A clade consisting of the last common ancestor of living members and all its descendants. Archosauria is the crown group nested within the broader Archosauriformes.
Erythrosuchidae: An extinct family of large-bodied, usually carnivorous early archosauriforms from the Triassic. These predators represent a distinctive early branch outside Archosauria.

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