Lazarussuchus
| Lazarussuchus Temporal range: Late Paleocene - Early Miocene
(Possible Late Miocene record) | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of Lazarussuchus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Choristodera |
| Genus: | †Lazarussuchus Hecht, 1992 |
| Type species | |
| †Lazarussuchus inexpectatus Hecht, 1992 | |
| Other species | |
| |
Lazarussuchus (meaning "Lazarus's crocodile") is an extinct genus of amphibious reptile, known from the Cenozoic of Europe. It is the youngest known member of Choristodera, an extinct order of aquatic reptiles that first appeared in the Middle Jurassic. Fossils have been found in Late Paleocene, Late Oligocene, Early Miocene and possibly Late Miocene deposits (~56-20 or possibly 11.6 million years ago) in France, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Two species have been named: the type species L. inexpectatus ("unexpected") (Hecht, 1992) from the late Oligocene of France. and L. dvoraki from the early Miocene of the Czech Republic. It was not a large animal; with the total preserved body and tail length of L. inexpectatus being just over 30 centimetres. A complete specimen of Lazarussuchus with preserved soft tissue was found from the Late Paleocene of France, but has not been assigned to a species.