''Sarmatosuchus'' 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 archosauriform

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

found in sediments of

Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epoch (geology), epochs of the Triassic period (geology), period or the middle of three series (stratigraphy), series in which the Triassic system (stratigraphy), system is di ...

age and known from the single species ''Sarmatosuchus otschevi''. It is one of the earliest stem-archosaur species known. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

and only specimen was found in

lithified Lithification (from the Ancient Greek word ''lithos'' meaning 'rock' and the Latin-derived suffix ''-ific'') is the process in which sediments compact under pressure, expel connate fluids, and gradually become solid rock. Essentially, lithificati ...

river deposits of the Donguz Formation exposed near the Berdyanka River, Orenburg region,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. 1994 "Pervyj srednetriansovyj proteroscchid iz Vostochnoy Evropy." ''Doklady Akademii Nauk'' 336:359-661 The genus was originally included in the extinct family

Proterosuchidae Proterosuchidae is an early family of basal archosauriforms whose fossils are known from the Late Permian and the Early Triassic. The highest diversity of genera is known from European Russia, but fossils are also known from South Africa, India ...

. However, later analysis by

David Gower David Ivon Gower (born 1 April 1957) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who was captain of the England cricket team during the 1980s. Described as one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of his era, Gower played 117 T ...

and Andrei Sennikov, the describing author, has removed it from the Proterosuchidae and designated it a basal archosauriform. & 1997, "Sarmatosuchus and the Early History of the Archosauria" ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 17(1):60-73

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7424287 Archosauriformes Prehistoric reptile genera Anisian genera Middle Triassic reptiles of Europe Triassic Russia Fossils of Russia Fossil taxa described in 1994