Purranisaurus

Updated on Oct 07, 2024

Edit

Comment

Kingdom Animalia Class Sauropsida Family Metriorhynchidae		Phylum Chordata Suborder Thalattosuchia

Genus PurranisaurusRusconi, 1948

Purranisaurus is an extinct genus of marine crocodyliform from the Middle to Late Jurassic period of Chile and Argentina. Rusconi originally regarded Purranisaurus potens (the type species) to be a plesiosaur; however, Gasparini demonstrated that it was in fact a metriorhynchid crocodyliform, and that may be a junior synonym of Metriorhynchus.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

In the 2000s phylogenetic analysis has shown that Purranisaurus is a distinct metriorhynchid genus. A subsequent study expanded the genus Purranisaurus to include Metriorhynchus casamiquelai and M. westermanni.

Valid species

P. casamiquelai: Middle Jurassic of Chile (Callovian);

P. westermanni: Middle Jurassic of Chile (Callovian). Although previously considered a junior synonym of P. casamiquelai, it has been revalidated;

P. potens: End Jurassic of Argentina (Tithonian).

References

Purranisaurus Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

Contents

Taxonomy and phylogeny

Valid species

References