''Parahupehsuchus'' is an extinct

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 hupehsuchian marine reptiles from the Early Triassic of China. The genus is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

, known from the single species ''Parahupehsuchus longus'' and based on a single specimen. Like other hupehsuchians, it had an elongated torso, a tail nearly as long as the rest of the body, short and paddle-like limbs, extra bones in the fore- and hind limbs, thick ribs and gastralia, neural spines of the vertebrae split into two parts, and bony plates over the neural spines. It differs from other hupehsuchians in having an even more elongated body and wider ribs that touch along their edges and have no spaces between them. The ribs connect with gastralia on the underside of the torso to form a bony "tube" around the body wall.

Description

''Parahupehsuchus longus'' is known from a single

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

, WGSC 26005, measuring in length. It was found in 2011 from an outcrop of the Early Triassic (

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 ...

) Jialingjiang Formation in Yuan'an County, Hubei Province, China. WGSC 26005 consists of a mostly complete left half of a skeleton lacking the skull and most of the tail. The torso of ''Parahupehsuchus'' is very elongated; it has 38 dorsal vertebrae, 10 more than in '' Hupehsuchus'' and the unnamed hupehsuchian IVPP V4070. The rib cage of ''Parahupehsuchus'' is narrow and tube-shaped, unlike the barrel-shaped rib cage of ''Hupehsuchus''. The ribs of ''Parahupehsuchus'' are unlike those of any other hupehsuchian. They are wide and flat, touching edge-to-edge to form a bony tube across the torso. Rows of gastralia on the underside of the torso form a bottom wall enclosing this tube. Each rib articulates with two dorsal vertebrae, wedged between the diapophysis and parapophysis of the vertebra in front of it and an anterior rib facet extending from the parapophysis of the vertebra behind it. Each rib sweeps backward from its connection with the vertebrae. The gastralia, which overlap the bottom ends of the ribs, sweep forward.

Phylogeny

References

Hupehsuchia Triassic ichthyosauromorphs Early Triassic reptiles of Asia Fossil taxa described in 2014 Paleontology in Hubei Ichthyosauromorph genera {{paleo-reptile-stub