Trachelosaurus is an extinct genus of lizard-like early archosauromorph reptiles in the family Trachelosauridae.O. Kuhn. (1971). Reptiles of the German Triassic. 1-105 It was originally described as a dinosaur until it was redescribed as a "protorosaur" reptile by Robert L. Carroll in 1988.R. L. Carroll. (1988). Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution 1-698 The type species, T. fischeri, was described by F. Broili & E. Fischer in 1917F. Broili and E. Fischer. (1917). Trachelosaurus fischeri nov. gen. nov. sp. A new dinosaur from the Buntsandstein of Bernburg. Jahrbuch der Königlich Preussischen geologischen Landesanstalt zu Berlin 37(1):359-414 based on remains found in the Solling Formation (Buntsandstein), Bernburg, Germany.H. H. Ecke. (1986). Palynologie des Zechsteins und Unteren Buntsandsteins im Germanischen Becken. Dissertation Georg-August-Universität Göttingen 1-117 A 2024 redescription identified Trachelosaurus as a long-necked and presumably aquatic reptile closely related to Dinocephalosaurus from the Guanling Formation of China.
Classification In their 2024 redescription of Trachelosaurus, Spiekman and colleagues recovered it in a clade with the Chinese Dinocephalosaurus in a clade previously named Dinocephalosauridae in 2021. However, the principle of priority instructs that the name Trachelosauridae, which was first erected as a monotypic clade for Trachelosaurus, should be used instead. The results of their phylogenetic analyses are shown in the cladogram below:
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