| Elachistosuchus Temporal range: Late Triassic,
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|---|---|
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| Holotype skull, vertebrae and shoulder girdle (blocks I-II) | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
| Genus: | †Elachistosuchus Janensch, 1949 |
| Type species | |
| †Elachistosuchus huenei Janensch, 1949
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Elachistosuchus is an extinct genus of neodiapsid reptile, most likely basal archosauromorph, known from the Late Triassic Arnstadt Formation of Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It contains a single species, Elachistosuchus huenei, known from a single individual E. huenei, originally considered a pseudosuchian archosaur and then a rhynchocephalian lepidosaur, was largely ignored in the scientific literature, as its small size and fragility did not permit further mechanical preparation and examination. More recently however, a non-invasive μCT scanning was performed to resolve its placement within Reptilia, and found it to represent a more basal reptile, potentially closely related to several early archosauromorph clades.[1][2]
- ^ Sobral, Gabriela; Sues, Hans-Dieter; Müller, Johannes (2015). "Anatomy of the Enigmatic Reptile Elachistosuchus huenei Janensch, 1949 (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Upper Triassic of Germany and Its Relevance for the Origin of Sauria". PLOS ONE. 10 (9): e0135114. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1035114S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0135114. PMC 4564268. PMID 26352985.
- ^ Janensch, W (1949). "Ein neues Reptil aus dem Keuper von Halberstadt". N Jb Mineral Geol Palaeont B. 1949: 225–242.