large sauropodomorphs were thought to occupy during the Triassic, expanding the known ecological diversity of herbivorous archosauromorphs outside of dinosaurs in the Triassic Period. Azendohsaurus is also significant as it may be one of the earliest endothermic archosauromorphs known, and suggests that a warm-blooded metabolism was ancestral to the later archosaurs, including the dinosaurs. Description Azendohsaurus was a stocky mid-sized reptile estimated to be roughly long. It had a small, box-shaped head with a short snout on a long neck that was raised above the shoulders. The body was broad, with a barrel-shaped chest and shoulders much taller than the hips, together with an unusually short tail. Its posture was semi-sprawled, with sprawling hind limbs and slightly elevated forelimbs. The limbs themselves are relatively short and particularly robust, with digits that are shorter and stouter compared to other early archosauromorphs, each with notably large, curved claws on all four feet. Superficially its appearance is comparable to that of sauropodomorph dinosaurs, along with various details of its skeleton, suggesting Azendohsaurus converged on similar traits for a relatively high-browsing, herbivorous lifestyle. A. laaroussii is poorly known compared to A. madagaskarensis, and the two species are only known to differ in minor details of the jaw bones and teeth. Additional skeletal material of A. laaroussii has been reported from the type locality of the original skull fragments, but have yet to be formally described as of 2015. Skull The skull of A. madagaskarensis is almost completely known, and is robustly built with a short and boxy shape and a deep snout. The premaxillae are gently curved at the front of the upper jaw, forming a blunt, round snout tip, while the lower jaws have a deep, down-turned tip like those of sauropods. The bony nostrils are fused into a single (confluent) opening that faces forwards at the front of the snout, similar to those of rhynchosaurs. The skull has a number of traits convergent with sauropodomorphs, including the downward curving dentary, a robust dorsal process of the maxilla, and several features of the teeth. The process on the maxilla usually indicates the presence of an antorbital fenestra in archosauriforms, but in Azendohsaurus this space is occupied by the lacrimal bone in front of the eyes. This is a unique arrangement unknown in other Triassic archosauromorphs, except for the related Shringasaurus. The orbits are almost entirely occupied by the large sclerotic rings, suggesting large