Turfanosuchus dabanenesis (Young 1973) Middle Triassic ~235 mya, ~90 cm in length was first considered a sister to Euparkeria (Young 1973), then a suchian (or crocodylomorph, Parrish 1993), then left as an enigma (Wu and Russell 2001). Here Turfanosuchus was derived from a sister to Decuriasuchus at the base of the Poposauridae (Sacisaurus), Crocodylomorpha (Gracilisuchus) and Dinosauria (PVL 4597).

Distinct from Decuriasuchus, the skull of Turfanosuchus had a larger orbit, shorter rostrum and no parietal crest.

The cervicals were elongated with robust ribs.. The dorsal rib cage was more extensive. The chevrons were ossified. The humerus was hourglass-shaped. The pubis was deeper. The posterior pelvis was larger and angled dorsally. The legs were relatively longer and the torso was shorter. The calcaneum was oriented proximally. Osteoderms continued to line the back.

With such proportions, Turfanosuchus could have been bipedal on occasion. Essentially it was another long-necked rauisuchian, like Yarasuchus and Qianosuchus.

Turfanosuchus standing and posing tripodally.

Nyasasaurus (Middle Triassic, in gray and color) compared to Turfanosuchus.

Asilisaurus (Middle Triassic) in two sizes (adult, juvenile) compared to Turfanosuchus and Nyasasaurus. Compare Asilisaurus to Silesaurus. This is one of the earliest known poposaurids and had no calcaneal heel.

Brusatte SL , Benton MJ , Desojo JB and Langer MC 2010. The higher-level phylogeny of Archosauria (Tetrapoda: Diapsida), Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 8:1, 3-47.

Parrish MJ 1993. Phylogeny of the Crocodylotarsi, with reference to archosaurian
and crutotarsan monophyly. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 13:287–308.

Sues H-D, Nesbitt SJ, Berman DS and Henrici AC 2011. A late-surviving basal theropod dinosaur from the latest Triassic of North America. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, published online

Wu X-C and Russell AP 2001. Redescription of Turfanosuchus dabanenesis (Archosauriformes) and new information on its phylogenetic relationships. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21(1):40-50. Online pdf.

Young CC 1973. [On a new pseudosuchian from Turfan, Sinking (Xinjiang).] Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Academia Sinica, Series B 10:15-37.

wiki/Turfanosuchus