Purranisaurus

Purranisaurus Temporal range: 167–150 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N Callovian - Tithonian
Purranisaurus casamiquelai
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
(unranked):	Mesoeucrocodylia
Suborder:	Thalattosuchia
Family:	Metriorhynchidae
Genus:	Purranisaurus Rusconi, 1948
Species
P. casamiquelai Gasparini & Chong, 1977 P. westermanni Gasparini, 1980 P. potens Rusconi, 1948 (type)

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.

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.