archosaur
noun
ar·cho·saur ˈär-kə-ˌsȯr 
: any of a subclass (Archosauria) of reptiles comprising the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and crocodilians
archosaurian
ˌär-kə-ˈsȯr-ē-ən
adjective or noun 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Beyond just dinosaurs, other large archosaur predators during the same era also had unusual socket shapes. 
Fionna M. D. Samuels, Scientific American, 11 Aug. 2022 But this itty-bitty reptile from Madagascar is related to some of the largest animals that ever walked the planet, belonging to the archosaur subgroup that led to dinosaurs and their flying relatives, the pterosaurs. Riley Black, National Geographic, 11 Sep. 2020 The earliest dinosaurs were not ravenous creatures that directly outcompeted their archosaur relatives, as experts used to think. Riley Black, National Geographic, 11 Sep. 2020 Different reef-building creatures began to take hold, and lush vegetation covered the land, setting the stage for a group of reptiles called the archosaurs: the forerunners of birds, crocodilians, pterosaurs, and the nonavian dinosaurs. Michael Greshko, National Geographic, 30 Sep. 2019 This came as a surprise, Stocker says, and indicates that the more complex, crocodile-type ankle shape was ancestral for archosaurs. Brian Switek, Smithsonian, 12 Apr. 2017 Looking at the diversity of living and extinct archosaurs – Brian Switek, WIRED, 8 Oct. 2010 Snakes and scaly lizards split from the archosaur before turtles and lack the red oil on their retinas. Joanna Klein, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2016 See More
Fionna M. D. Samuels, Scientific American, 11 Aug. 2022 But this itty-bitty reptile from Madagascar is related to some of the largest animals that ever walked the planet, belonging to the archosaur subgroup that led to dinosaurs and their flying relatives, the pterosaurs. Riley Black, National Geographic, 11 Sep. 2020 The earliest dinosaurs were not ravenous creatures that directly outcompeted their archosaur relatives, as experts used to think. Riley Black, National Geographic, 11 Sep. 2020 Different reef-building creatures began to take hold, and lush vegetation covered the land, setting the stage for a group of reptiles called the archosaurs: the forerunners of birds, crocodilians, pterosaurs, and the nonavian dinosaurs. Michael Greshko, National Geographic, 30 Sep. 2019 This came as a surprise, Stocker says, and indicates that the more complex, crocodile-type ankle shape was ancestral for archosaurs. Brian Switek, Smithsonian, 12 Apr. 2017 Looking at the diversity of living and extinct archosaurs – Brian Switek, WIRED, 8 Oct. 2010 Snakes and scaly lizards split from the archosaur before turtles and lack the red oil on their retinas. Joanna Klein, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2016 See More Word History
Etymology
New Latin Archosauria, from Greek archōn + sauros lizard
First Known Use
1933, in the meaning defined above