Zhyrasuchus

Name: Zhyrasuchus.
Phonetic: Zie-rah-soo-kus.
Named By: Nesov et al.‭ ‬-‭ ‬1989.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Crocodylomorpha,‭ ‬Eusuchia‭?
Species: Z.‭ ‬angustifrons‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Uncertain.
Known locations: Uzbekistan‭ ‬-‭ ‬Bissekty Formation.
Time period: Coniacian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Small fragmentary remains.




       Since its description in‭ ‬1989,‭ ‬Zhyrasuchus has remained only known by fragmentary remains.‭ ‬As such,‭ ‬although Zhyrasuchus has been considered to be a eusuchian,‭ ‬and therefore a relative of modern crocodiles,‭ ‬palaeontologists still cannot be certain how Zhyrasuchus was related.‭ ‬Zhyrasuchus is also known to have lived at the same time and locations as another crocodile called Tadzhikosuchus.‭ ‬Both of these genera have been described as contemporaries and possibly even‭ ‬synonyms of each other.‭ ‬If the synonym connection is true then the fossils currently labelled as Zhyrasuchus would be added to Tadzhikosuchus since this genus was named seven years earlier in‭ ‬1982.‭ ‬However again,‭ ‬because the remains of Zhyrasuchus are so fragmentary that a synonym connection to Tadzhikosuchus cannot be proven.

Further reading
-‭ ‬Mesozoic crocodyliforms of north-central Eurasia.‭ ‬In M.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Benton,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Shishkin,‭ ‬D.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Unwin,‭ ‬E.‭ ‬N.‭ ‬Kurochkin‭ (‬eds.‭)‬,‭ ‬The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia‭ ‬402-419‭ ‬-‭ ‬G.‭ ‬W.‭ ‬Storrs and M.‭ ‬B.‭ ‬Efimov‭ ‬-‭ ‬2000.



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