Parotosuchus Ochev and Shishkin, 1968

Sulej, Tomasz & Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz, 2013, A new large capitosaurid temnospondyl amphibian from the Early Triassic of Poland, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 58 (1), pp. 65-75 : 67-68

Genus Parotosuchus Ochev and Shishkin, 1968

Type species: Parotosuchus nasutus Meyer, 1858 ; Spathian of Germany .

Referred species.— Parotosuchus helgolandicus ( Schroeder, 1913) ; P. orenburgensis ( Konzhukova, 1965) ; P. orientalis ( Ochev, 1966) ; P. panteleevi ( Ochev, 1966) ; P. sequester

http://dx.doi.org/10.4202/app.2011.0025

Shishkin, 1974; P. komiensis Novikov, 1986 ; P. speleus Shishkin and Sulej, 2009 , Parotosuchus sp. (in Welles 1947; see Morales 2005); Parotosuchus sp. ( Sidor et al. 2007).

Remarks.—The species from the Middle Triassic of Gondwana described as belonging to Parotosuchus (Chernin and Cosgriff 1975; Mukherjee and Sengupta 1998; Damiani 2001a; see also Sidor et al. 2007) are considered to be generically distinct based on hyperelongated and exceptionally broad snouts, tabular horns that are postero−laterally directed and recurved, and other characters described by Damiani (2001b) in the diagnosis of Cherninia .

The assignment of the Wióry capitosaurid to Parotosuchus is based mainly on the structure of the mandible, which is preserved and well described only in P. orenburgensis among Parotosuchus . In both P. orenburgensis and the new species the retroarticular process is shorter than the glenoid area (new character) and its dorsal surface is sloped horizontally (character 47 in Maryańska and Shishkin 1996). The crista articularis is straight and horizontal in lingual view. The Meckelian foramen has the length of a quarter or shorter of the adductor fossa length.

Geographic and stratigraphic range.—Late Early Triassic (Late Olenekian) of Europe, Africa, Antarctica, and North America.