Parasuchus

Parasuchus Temporal range: Late Triassic, 222.5–212 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Phytosauria
Genus:	†Parasuchus Lydekker, 1885
Type species
†Parasuchus hislopi Lydekker, 1885

Parasuchus is an extinct genus of phytosaur known from the Late Triassic (late Carnian to early Norian stage) of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, India. It contains a single species, Parasuchus hislopi (though see below).

Parasuchus was first described on the basis of a chimeric material - a rhynchosaurian basicranium mixed with phytosaurian partial snout, scutes and some teeth. The partial premaxillary rostrum (snout), GSI H 20/11, was chosen as the lectotype of Parasuchus hislopi. GSI H 20/11 was collected from the Lower Maleri Formation (Pranhita–Godavari Basin), near the Maleri village of Adilabad district, Andhra Pradesh. Later, Sankar Chatterjee (1978) described many complete remains from the Lower Maleri Formation, as well as one nearly complete skull form the Tiki Formation, that he assignated to Parasuchus hislopi. Two complete and articulated skeletons that include complete skulls were collected in the vicinity of the Mutapyram village of Adilabad district. Both individuals were roughly 8 ft (2.4 m) in length, lying side by side. The left individual, ISI R 42, is perfectly preserved, and was designated as the neotype of the species following the suggestion of Chatterjee (2001). The rostrum of the right individual, ISI R 43, is the only missing part of its skeleton. In the presumable gastric contents of these two skeletons, two articulated and almost complete skeletons of Malerisaurus robinsonae (both designated as ISIR 150), a basal archosauromorph, were found. From the same locality as the neotype, three isolated conjoined basioccipital/basisphenoids (ISI R 45-47) were also recovered. A couple of miles north of that locality, near the Venkatapur village, two more excellently preserved skulls were found. ISI R 160 represents an isolated but nearly complete skull, while ISI R 161 represents partial skull and articulated postcranial remains. Finally, the skull recovered from the Tikisuchus holotype site of the Tiki Formation (Gondwana Group), about 4 miles west of Tiki village of Shadol District, Madhya Pradesh, is missing only the end of the snout and the squamosal. As the lectotype of the genus, it was found nearby Paradapedon remains. Both formations date to the late Carnian to early Norian stage of the Late Triassic period, about 222.5-212 million years ago.