| Eohupehsuchus Temporal range: Early Triassic
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|---|---|
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| Holotype specimen, WGSC V26003 | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Hupehsuchia |
| Genus: | †Eohupehsuchus Chen et al., 2014 |
| Species: | †E. brevicollis
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| Binomial name | |
| †Eohupehsuchus brevicollis Chen et al., 2014
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Eohupehsuchus is a genus of extinct aquatic diapsid from the Upper Spathian (latest Early Triassic) of Hubei Province, located in Central China.[1] The genus is monotypic[1] and belongs to the order Hupehsuchia, whose members are characterized by toothless beak-like snouts, a row of dermal plates along their backs, and aquatic adaptations including paddle-shaped limbs and fusiform bodies with pachyostotic ribs.[2]
Eohupehsuchus is known only from its holotype, WGSC (Wuhan Centre of Geological Survey, China) V26003. It is the smallest known hupehsuchian along with Nanchangosaurus, measuring about 40 cm (16 in) long.[1][3] Phylogenetic analyses have repeatedly recovered it as the second-most basal member of the Hupehsuchia and as the sister group to the family Hupehsuchidae.[1][4] A pathology on the left forelimb of the holotype was interpreted by its discoverers as a bite wound from a larger marine reptile, and used to argue an early onset for modern trophic structures in marine ecosystems following the Permian-Triassic mass extinction[1] (see Paleoenvironment and paleoecology).
The generic name Eohupehsuchus comes from the Greek "eos" (Greek: ἠώς), meaning "early" or "dawn;" "Hupeh," an anglicisation of Hubei (Chinese: 湖北; pinyin: Húběi); and the Greek "Suchos" (Greek: Σοũχος), meaning "Sobek."[1] (The Greek name for Sobek is a common element of scientific names for animals that resemble crocodiles, and is often translated as “crocodile” in this context, but hupehsuchians are not close relatives of crocodilians, the order that includes modern crocodiles.) The specific name brevicollis comes from the Latin "brevis," meaning "short," and "collis," meaning "neck." Thus the generic name can be translated as “early Hubei crocodile,” and the full binomial name as “short-necked early Hubei crocodile.”
- ^ a b c d e f Chen, X.-H.; Motani, R.; Cheng, L.; Jiang, D.-Y.; Rieppel, O. (2014). Farke, Andrew A. (ed.). "A Small Short-Necked Hupehsuchian from the Lower Triassic of Hubei Province, China". PLOS ONE. 9 (12): e115244. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...9k5244C. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115244. PMC 4269458. PMID 25517113.
- ^ Wu, X-C.; Zhao, L-J.; Sato, T.; Gu, S-X.; Jin, X-S. (2015). "A new specimen of Hupehsuchus nanchangensis Young, 1972 (Diapsida, Hupehsuchia) from the Triassic of Hubei, China". Historical Biology. 28 (1–2): 43–52. doi:10.1080/08912963.2015.1013953. S2CID 86178230.
- ^ Li, Qiang; Liu, Jun (2020). "An Early Triassic sauropterygian and associated fauna from South China provide insights into Triassic ecosystem health". Communications Biology. 3. 63. doi:10.1038/s42003-020-0778-7. PMC 7012838.
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