Halazhaisuchus
| Halazhaisuchus Temporal range: Early Triassic,
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| Skeletal reconstruction of the holotype of Halazhaisuchus, and an euparkeriid specimen similar to it (previously thought to be a new species of the gracilisuchid Turfanosuchus) | |
| Halazhaisuchus qiaoensis and "Turfanosuchus shageduensis" vertebrae | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Family: | †Euparkeriidae |
| Genus: | †Halazhaisuchus Wu, 1982 |
| Type species | |
| †Halazhaisuchus qiaoensis Wu, 1982
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Halazhaisuchus is an extinct genus of archosauriform from the Early Triassic of China. It is known from a single species, Halazhaisuchus qiaoensis, which was named in 1982 from the lower Ermaying Formation in Shaanxi. It was assigned to the family Euparkeriidae as a close relative of the genus Euparkeria from South Africa. Halazhaisuchus is known from a single holotype specimen called V6027, which was discovered in 1977 and includes a portion of the vertebral column, some ribs, two scapulae and two humeri, the right radius and ulna, and a left coracoid. Two rows of plate-like bones called osteoderms run along the length of the vertebrae. When it was first described in 1982, Halazhaisuchus was considered a close relative of Euparkeria because it has primitive features like small intercentra bones between the vertebrae and a large coracoid, not seen in later archosaurs. However, these features are common to many early archosauriforms and are not unique to Euparkeriidae.