Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Purranisaurus

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Class
  
Sauropsida

Family
  
Metriorhynchidae

Phylum
  
Chordata

Suborder
  
Thalattosuchia

Purranisaurus

Genus
  
Purranisaurus Rusconi, 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.

Contents

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