''Fenhosuchus'' 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. The holotype, IVPP V 2697, and referred materials have been found in the Hsishihwa locality at Wuhsiang,

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 ...

, from the Upper

Ermaying Formation The Ermaying Formation is a geological formation of Anisian (Middle Triassic) age in north-central China. It is found across much of the Ordos Basin, at outcrops within the provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia. It is composed of up to ...

(also Ehrmaying). The locality dates back to the

Anisian In the geologic timescale, the Anisian is the lower stage (stratigraphy), stage or earliest geologic age, age of the Middle Triassic series (stratigraphy), series or geologic epoch, epoch and lasted from million years ago until million years ag ...

stage of the

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 ...

. The genus was named after the

Fen River The Fen River drains the center of Shanxi Province, China. It originates in the Guancen Mountains of Ningwu County in northeast Shanxi, flows southeast into the basin of Taiyuan, and then south through the central valley of Shanxi before turni ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

Province from which specimens were found. It may prove to be a chimera being composed of material from several different animals. Some material were believed to represent a rauisuchid. The

calcaneum In humans and many other primates, the calcaneus (; from the Latin ''calcaneus'' or ''calcaneum'', meaning heel; : calcanei or calcanea) or heel bone is a bone of the tarsus of the foot which constitutes the heel. In some other animals, it is t ...

of ''Fenhosuchus'' seems to belong to an erythrosuchid or other basal archosauriform.Gower, D. J. (1996). The tarsus of erythrosuchid archosaurs, and implications for early diapsid phylogeny. ''Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society'' 116:347–375. Much of the material of the tarsal bones seem to be similar to those of the genus '' Shansisuchus''. According to Nesbitt (2009) the assessment of Gower (2000) was correct, 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 ...

is a mix of ''Shansisuchus'' remains and a possible fragment from a paracrocodylomorph or a dinosauriform. Thus, ''Fenhosuchus'' cannot be considered a rauisuchian.

References

External links

''Fenhosuchus''
in the

Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ...

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4162613 Archosauriformes Paleontological chimeras Prehistoric reptile genera Anisian life Middle Triassic reptiles of Asia Fossil taxa described in 1964