Staurikosaurus remains may be a result of it being uncommon while alive, or because it lived in an environment like a forest, where fossils rarely form. Nonetheless, Garcia et al. (2019) referred the holotype of Teyuwasu barberenai as a second specimen of Staurikosaurus pricei (see Classification). Classification Later research by Sues et al. (2011) supports that Staurikosaurus and the related genus Herrerasaurus are theropods and evolved after the sauropod line had split from the Theropoda. Mortimer points out that Benedetto (1973) and Galton (1985) were the first to recognize that Staurikosaurus and Herrerasaurus were more closely related to each other than to sauropodomorphs or avepods, placing them both in the Herrerasauridae and Herrerasauria. Staurikosaurus differs from Herrerasaurus because of its considerably smaller size (femur length of vs. ). Sereno et al. (1993) concluded that Staurikosaurus was not a theropod and considered it a basal saurischian outside Theropoda and Sauropodomorpha.Staurikosaurus was originally incorrectly assigned by Colbert to Palaeosauriscidae, a defunct family based largely on Efraasia, a prosauropod dinosaur. All major phylogenetic analyses since 1994 have assigned Staurikosaurus to the clade Herrerasauridae, which is the current scientific consensus on classification of this genus. Bittencourt and Kellner (2009) stated that the phylogenetic position of Staurikosaurus is constrained by its close relationship with Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, which is more complete and well known. Below is a cladogram based on the phylogenetic analysis conducted by Sues et al. in 2011, showing the relationships of Staurikosaurus: Related genera Staurikosaurus was placed in the clade Herrerasauridae by Benedetto in 1973. Herrerasauridae also includes Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, both small predatory animals that were either dinosaurs or precursors to dinosaurs. These three dinosaurs lived during the Carnian stage of the Triassic period. Most phylogenetic analyses excluded Eoraptor from the Herrerasauridae. Phylogenetic analysis by Sues, Nesbitt, Berman and Henrici, in 2011, exclude Eoraptor, and include Chindesaurus along with Herrerasaurus as more derived than Staurikosaurus. Sanjuansaurus was assigned to Herrerasauridae by Alcober and Martínez (2010). Sues (1990) assigned Ischisaurus to Herrerasauridae. Other proposed members of the clade have included Sanjuansaurus from the same Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina as Herrerasaurus, and possibly Caseosaurus from the Dockum Formation of Texas, although the relationships of these animals are not fully understood, and not all paleontologists agree. Alcober and Martinez (2010) concluded that Staurikosaurus and Sanjuansaurus are closely related based on similarities in their pubis and tibia. Synonyms The controversial dinosauriform "Teyuwasu barberenai" was recently considered a