A New Specimen of Shansisuchus shansisuchus Young, 1964 （Diapsida： Archosauriformes） from the Triassic of Shanxi, China

• Published in: 地质学报：英文版 2013, Vol.87 (5), p.1185-1197
• Main Author: WANG Runfu XU Shichao WU Xiaochun LI Chun WANG Suozhu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 三叠纪; 上升过程; 上颌骨; 中国; 亲缘关系; 山西; 标本; 解剖特点
• ISSN: 1000-9515; 1755-6724

Shansisuchus shansisuchus Young, 1964 was restudied on the basis of a new specimen. Some anatomical features that were either briefly or not described at all in the original study were detailed. The new specimen not only provides further information on the skull anatomy and the vertebral column but also expands the range of the geographical distribution of the taxon. With new information, the diagnosis ofS. shansisuchus was emended and its phylogenetic relationships were further analyzed. S. shansisuchus differs from other archosauriforms primarily in the presence of a large subnarial fenestra anterior to the antorbital fenestra, tongue-in-groove articulations between the ascending process of the premaxilla and nasal and between the premaxilla and maxilla, a tall and posterodorsally directed ascending process of the maxilla, a knee-shaped process of the postorbital projecting into the orbit, a broad descending process of squamosal distally well forked and a large, deeply bow-shaped intercentrum tightly anchoring/capping the sharp ventral edges of two neighboring centra together in cervical and at least first eight dorsal vertebrae. With additional information derived from the new specimen, the phylogenetic relationships of S. shansisuchus were reanalyzed; it is closely related to Erythrosuchus- Vjushkovia clade.