''Hupehsuchus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of small marine reptiles, about 1 m (3 ft) long, found in the area of

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. This marine reptile lived in the

Olenekian In the geologic timescale, the Olenekian is an age (geology), age in the Early Triassic epoch (geology), epoch; in chronostratigraphy, it is a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the Lower Triassic series (stratigraphy), series. It spans the time betw ...

stage of the

Early Triassic The Early Triassic is the first of three epochs of the Triassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between 251.9 Ma and Ma (million years ago). Rocks from this epoch are collectively known as the Lower Triassic Series, which ...

period. It was probably a

filter feeder Filter feeders are aquatic animals that acquire nutrients by feeding on organic matters, food particles or smaller organisms (bacteria, microalgae and zooplanktons) suspended in water, typically by having the water pass over or through a s ...

, like modern

baleen whale Baleen whales (), also known as whalebone whales, are marine mammals of the order (biology), parvorder Mysticeti in the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises), which use baleen plates (or "whalebone") in their mouths to sieve plankt ...

Description

HupehsuchusNanchangensis-PaleozoologicalMuseumOfChina-May23-08

''Hupehsuchus'' was similar to its close relative, '' Nanchangosaurus'', but differed from it in a number of ways. For example, ''Hupehsuchus'' had heavier armor on its back than ''Nanchangosaurus'', and its back spines were more finely divided, giving it a more crocodile-like appearance than ''Nanchangosaurus''. It had a thin, long snout like a

gharial The gharial (''Gavialis gangeticus''), also known as gavial or fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family (biology), family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians. Mature females are long, and males . Adult males ...

river dolphin River dolphins are a polyphyletic group of fully aquatic mammals that reside exclusively in freshwater or brackish water. They are an informal grouping of dolphins, which itself is a paraphyletic group within the infraorder Cetacea. Extant rive ...

, or

ichthyosaur Ichthyosauria is an order of large extinct marine reptiles sometimes referred to as "ichthyosaurs", although the term is also used for wider clades in which the order resides. Ichthyosaurians thrived during much of the Mesozoic era; based on fo ...

, which it probably used to snag fish or probe for aquatic invertebrates. A 2023 study suggests, on the basis of cranial anatomy paralleling that of

baleen whales Baleen whales (), also known as whalebone whales, are marine mammals of the order (biology), parvorder Mysticeti in the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises), which use baleen plates (or "whalebone") in their mouths to sieve plankt ...

, that ''Hupehsuchus'' could have been a filter feeder.

Classification

Exactly to what species ''Hupehsuchus'' is related is unknown. Fairly clearly, it shares a close relationship with ''Nanchangosaurus'', but other relations are unknown. Many features, including the discovery of polydactyly, suggest that ''Hupehsuchus'' is related to the ichthyosaurs, but the fact that ''Hupehsuchus extra digits include more bones in the hand, rather than just the fingers as in the ichthyosaurs, may discredit that theory. It, along with ''Nanchangosaurus'', seems to be so different from any other reptile that a new order has been constructed for the two genera called Hupehsuchia.

References

* ''Chinese Fossil Vertebrates'' by Spencer G. Lucas * ''The World Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures'' by Dougal Dixon Triassic ichthyosauromorphs Early Triassic reptiles of Asia Hupehsuchia Ichthyosauromorph genera {{triassic-reptile-stub