— archosaurian , adj.
/ahr"keuh sawr'/ , n.
any reptile of the subclass Archosauria, including the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and crocodilians and characterized by two pairs of openings in the temporal region of the skull.
[ 1965-70; Archosaurus, taken as sing. of Archosauria, equiv. to Gk archo-, comb. form of archós ruler, chief + saûr ( os ) -SAUR + NL -ia -IA ]