Zhyrasuchus
Name:
Zhyrasuchus.
Phonetic: Zie-rah-soo-kus.
Named By: Nesov et al. - 1989.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Crocodylomorpha, Eusuchia?
Species: Z. angustifrons
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Uncertain.
Known locations: Uzbekistan - Bissekty Formation.
Time period: Coniacian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Small fragmentary remains.
Since its description in 1989, Zhyrasuchus has remained only known by fragmentary remains. As such, although Zhyrasuchus has been considered to be a eusuchian, and therefore a relative of modern crocodiles, palaeontologists still cannot be certain how Zhyrasuchus was related. Zhyrasuchus is also known to have lived at the same time and locations as another crocodile called Tadzhikosuchus. Both of these genera have been described as contemporaries and possibly even synonyms of each other. If the synonym connection is true then the fossils currently labelled as Zhyrasuchus would be added to Tadzhikosuchus since this genus was named seven years earlier in 1982. However again, because the remains of Zhyrasuchus are so fragmentary that a synonym connection to Tadzhikosuchus cannot be proven.
Further reading
- Mesozoic crocodyliforms of north-central Eurasia. In M. J.
Benton, M. A. Shishkin, D. M. Unwin, E. N.
Kurochkin (eds.), The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia
402-419 - G. W. Storrs and M. B. Efimov - 2000.
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