Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Xinpusaurus

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Superfamily
  
†Thalattosauroidea

Rank
  
Genus

Class
  
Reptilia

Phylum
  
Chordata

Order
  
Thalattosaur

Xinpusaurus wwwprehistoricwildlifecomimagesspeciesxxinp

Similar
  
Thalattosaur, Anshunsaurus, Clarazia, Endennasaurus, Thalattosaurus

Xinpusaurus is an extinct genus of thalattosaur from the Late Triassic of Guanling in Guizhou, China. Three species have been named since 2000: the type species X. suni and the species X. bamaolinensis and X. kohi. A recent study proposed that all three species are synonymous with each other, in which case X. suni would be the only valid species. Xinpusaurus is characterized by short legs, a long tail, and an upturned snout. It had robust, pointed teeth in the front of its jaws and broad crushing teeth in the back of its jaws, suggesting that it fed on hard-shelled prey.

Relationships

A phylogenetic analysis of thalattosaurs published in 2013 found Concavispina to be the closest relative of Xinpusaurus. Below is a cladogram based on that analysis:

References

Xinpusaurus Wikipedia