Lazarussuchus

Lazarussuchus
Temporal range: Late Paleocene - Early Miocene 61–20 Ma (Possible Late Miocene record)
Reconstruction of Lazarussuchus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: †Choristodera
Genus: †Lazarussuchus
Hecht, 1992
Type species
†Lazarussuchus inexpectatus
Hecht, 1992
Other species
  • †L. dvoraki
    Evans and Klembara, 2005

Lazarussuchus (meaning "Lazarus's crocodile") is an extinct genus of amphibious reptile, known from the Cenozoic of Europe. It is the youngest known member of Choristodera, an extinct order of aquatic reptiles that first appeared in the Middle Jurassic. Fossils have been found in Late Paleocene, Late Oligocene, Early Miocene and possibly Late Miocene deposits (~56-20 or possibly 11.6 million years ago) in France, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Two species have been named: the type species L. inexpectatus ("unexpected") (Hecht, 1992) from the late Oligocene of France.[1] and L. dvoraki from the early Miocene of the Czech Republic.[2] It was not a large animal; with the total preserved body and tail length of L. inexpectatus being just over 30 centimetres.[1] A complete specimen of Lazarussuchus with preserved soft tissue was found from the Late Paleocene of France, but has not been assigned to a species.[3]

  1. ^ a b Hecht, M.K. (1992). "A new choristodere (Reptilia, Diapsida) from the Oligocene of France: an example of the Lazarus effect". Geobios. 25 (1): 115–131. Bibcode:1992Geobi..25..115H. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(09)90041-9.
  2. ^ Evans, Susan E.; Klembara, Jozef (2005). "A choristoderan reptile (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Lower Miocene of northwest Bohemia (Czech Republic)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 25 (1): 171–184. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025[0171:ACRRDF]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0272-4634. S2CID 84097919.
  3. ^ Matsumoto, R.; Buffetaut, E.; Escuillie, F.; Hervet, S.; Evans, S. E. (2013). "New material of the choristodere Lazarussuchus (Diapsida, Choristodera) from the Paleocene of France". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 33 (2): 319. Bibcode:2013JVPal..33..319M. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.716274. S2CID 129438118.