Compsosuchus was described in 1933 by von Huene and Matley based on remains discovered between 1917 and 1919.[1] The type species is C. solus, and the type and only specimen is GSI K27/578, an axis with an articulated axial intersection. The genus is often considered a nomen dubium.[2]
Classification
Although classified as an allosaurid by Huene and Matley (1933) and Molnar et al. (1990) because of superficial similarities with the axis vertebrae of Allosaurus, a 2004 review of Lameta Formation theropods found it to be similar to members of the Abelisauridae, including Carnotaurus and Indosaurus, necessitating the placement of Compsosuchus as an abelisaurid.[3][4] While a 2011 study classified Compsosuchus as a noasaurid,[5] a 2024 study identified it as an indeterminate abelisaurid.[6]
^F. v. Huene and C. A. Matley, (1933), "The Cretaceous Saurischia and Ornithischia of the Central Provinces of India", Palaeontologica Indica (New Series), Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India 21(1): 1-74
^"Compsosuchus". Dinosaurier-Info.De. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
^Mohabey, D. M.; Samant, B.; Vélez-Rosado, K. I.; Wilson Mantilla, J. A. (2024). "A review of small-bodied theropod dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous of India, with description of new cranial remains of a noasaurid (Theropoda: Abelisauria)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. e2288088. doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2288088.