Shansisuchus

Shansisuchus
Temporal range: Middle Triassic, 247.2–242.0 Ma[1]
Skeletal cast mount, Paleozoological Museum of China
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Clade: Archosauriformes
Family: †Erythrosuchidae
Genus: †Shansisuchus
Young, 1964
Type species
†Shansisuchus shansisuchus
Young, 1964
Species
  • Shansisuchus kuyeheensis
  • Shansisuchus shansisuchus

Shansisuchus (meaning "Shanxi Province crocodile") is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile belonging to the family Erythrosuchidae that lived during the Middle Triassic in what is now China.[1][2] The first fossils of Shansisuchus were discovered from the Ermaying Formation of Shanxi (Shansi) province in 1964 by Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhongjian. Like other erythrosuchids, Shansisuchus was a large-bodied carnivore with a large, deep skull.[2] Shansisuchus is unique among early archosauriforms in having a hole in its skull called a subnarial fenestra.[3]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference fossilworks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Shansisuchus - a prehistoric reptile discovered in China". All Wild Animals. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  3. ^ Wang, F.; Xu, S.; Wu, X.; Li, C.; Wang, S. (2013). "A new specimen of Shansisuchus shansisuchus Young, 1964 (Diapsida: Archosauriformes) from the Triassic of Shanxi, China". Acta Geologica Sinica. 87 (5): 1185–1197. doi:10.1111/1755-6724.12145. S2CID 128818375.