Diandongosuchus
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Diandongosuchus Temporal range: Middle Triassic |
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| Skull in Beijing Museum of Natural History | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Phytosauria |
| Genus: |
†Diandongosuchus Li et al., 2012 |
| Type species | |
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†Diandongosuchus fuyuanensis Li et al., 2012 |
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Diandongosuchus is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile, possibly a member of the Phytosauria, known from the Middle Triassic of China. The type species Diandongosuchus fuyuanensis was named in 2012 from the Falang Formation of Yunnan Province. It is a marine species that shows similarities with another Chinese Triassic species called Qianosuchus mixtus, although it has fewer adaptations toward marine life. It was originally classified as the basal-most member of the pseudosuchian clade Poposauroidea. However, a subsequent study conducted by Stocker et al. (2016, 2017) indicated it to be the basalmost known phytosaur instead.
Diandongosuchus is known from a nearly complete articulated skeleton (ZMNH M8770) missing most of the tail. The total length of ZMNH M8770 is 97 centimetres (3.18 ft) and the estimated body length of the animal in life is around 155 centimetres (5.09 ft). The specimen is preserved on its right side, with the underside of the lower jaws and the trunk showing. It was prepared out of a limestone slab to reveal details on the left side of the skeleton, many of which are better preserved. The skull of Diandongosuchus is pointed, with oval-shaped eye sockets, antorbital and temporal openings. Distinctive features include a long premaxilla bone at the tip of the snout that extends backward past the nostril openings, a large ridge on the jugal bone that runs beneath the eye socket, and two supratemporal openings on the skull table that have prominent ridges surrounding them. The skull has similar proportions to that of Qianosuchus, and has the same number of teeth in the premaxilla. Like the terrestrial poposauroid Poposaurus, Diandongosuchus has a maxilla (upper jaw) bone that does not reach the border of the nostril opening.
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