Yarasuchus deccanensis (Sen 2005) Middle Triassic ~230 mya, ~2 m in length, was originally considered a sister to Prestosuchus, despite the long neck. Here Yarasuchus was derived from a sister to Vjushkovia and Arizonasaurus at the base of a clade that included Qianosuchus and Ticinosuchus.
Distinct from Vjushkovia, the skull of Yarasuchus had a deeper convex maxilla. The squamosal was relatively larger.
The cervicals and their neural spines were elongated, but no taller except over the sacrum and anterior caudals.
The scapula was smaller and narrowly waisted. The humerus was more robust distally.
The pubis was longer and more ventrally directed. The femur, tibia and fibula were relatively shorter.
Distinct from Qianosuchus, Yarasuchus had a more gracile skeleton and shorter limbs.
Lautenschlager and Desojo (2011) considered the reconstruction of Sen (2005) to be a chimaera because it was found mixed in with the scattered remains of Pamelaria, but they offered no further explanation or details. While the taxa are similar in several regards, their morphological details are distinct enough to separate them. |
