| Teyujagua Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Skull in side view and dorsal view | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Sauria |
| Clade: | Archelosauria |
| Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
| Clade: | Crocopoda |
| Genus: | †Teyujagua Pinheiro et al., 2016 |
| Type species | |
| †Teyujagua paradoxa Pinheiro et al., 2016
| |
Teyujagua (named for Teyú Yaguá, a legendary beast from local Guaraní mythology) is an extinct genus of small, probably semi-aquatic archosauromorph reptile that lived in Brazil during the Early Triassic period. The genus contains the type and only known species, T. paradoxa. It is known from a well-preserved skull, and probably resembled a crocodile in appearance. It was an intermediary between the primitive archosauromorphs and the more advanced Archosauriformes, revealing the mosaic evolution of how the key features of the archosauriform skull were acquired. Teyujagua also provides additional support for a two-phase model of archosauriform radiation, with an initial diversification in the Permian followed by a second adaptive radiation in the Early Triassic.[1]
- ^ Pinheiro, Felipe L.; França, Marco A. G.; Lacerda, Marcel B.; Butler, Richard J.; Schultz, Cesar L. (2016). "An exceptional fossil skull from South America and the origins of the archosauriform radiation". Scientific Reports. 6: 22817. Bibcode:2016NatSR...622817P. doi:10.1038/srep22817. PMC 4786805. PMID 26965521.