Silesauridae

Silesauridae is a group of Triassic archosaurs closely related to dinosaurs. Its members are traditionally classified as non-dinosaurian dinosauriforms, though their evolutionary position remains debated.

Dinosauriformes: Dinosauriformes is the archosaur group comprising dinosaurs and their closest non-dinosaur relatives. Silesaurids are traditionally placed among dinosauriforms outside Dinosauria.
Silesaurus: Silesaurus is a Late Triassic dinosauriform known from fossils in Poland. This well-preserved genus gave Silesauridae its name.
Bipedalism: Bipedalism is locomotion using two legs for support and movement. Several silesaurids show adaptations associated with moving on two hind limbs.
Dinosauria: Dinosauria is the clade comprising the last common ancestor of birds and other dinosaurs and all its descendants. Some analyses place silesaurids within Dinosauria rather than outside it.
Archosauria: Archosauria is the reptile group that includes crocodilians, birds, dinosaurs, and their extinct relatives. Silesaurids belong to this broader reptile lineage.
Asilisaurus: Asilisaurus is an early dinosauriform from Middle Triassic deposits in Tanzania. Its age and anatomy bear on how early silesaurids evolved.
Osteoderm: An osteoderm is a bony deposit that forms within the skin of some vertebrates. Silesaurid fossils preserve body armor in some taxa.
Ornithischia: Ornithischia is one of the major dinosaur lineages, including armored and beaked herbivores. A proposed placement of silesaurids near ornithischians would recast early dinosaur evolution.
Triassic: The Triassic is the geologic period from about 252 to 201 million years ago. Silesaurid fossils come from ecosystems of this period.
Lewisuchus: Lewisuchus is a small Triassic archosauriform known from Argentina. It is commonly included among silesaurids, though its exact relationships have been debated.

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EoraptorCompared with: Comparisons with silesaurids help frame questions about which traits diagnose the earliest dinosaurs.