Pachysuchus is a dubious extinct genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early JurassicofChina.
| Pachysuchus
Temporal range: Early Jurassic, 196.5–189.6 Ma
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Genus: | †Pachysuchus Young, 1951 |
| Type species | |
| †Pachysuchus imperfectus Young, 1951 | |
Pachysuchus is known from a poorly preserved partial rostrum that was described from the Lower Lufeng SeriesinYunnan by paleontologist Yang Zhongjian ("C.C. Young") in 1951.[1] The type speciesisPachysuchus imperfectus. The generic name translates as "thick crocodile"; the specific name means "imperfect" in Latin. Young identified the rostrum as that of a phytosaur, a long-snouted crocodile-like crurotarsan. Phytosaurs were common in the Triassic, but none are otherwise known from the Jurassic. They are thought to have gone extinct during the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event. The rostrum from which Young described the specimen had since been lost, and his first description of the genus had been questioned.[2] The poor preservation of the specimen and its presence in Jurassic beds makes it doubtful that Pachysuchus is a phytosaur.[3] Paul M. Barrett and Xu Xing (2012) relocated the holotypeofP. imperfectus, specimen IVPP V 40, and identified it as actually belonging to a taxonomically indeterminate basal sauropodomorph. According to Barrett and Xu, the holotype of Pachysuchus "does not bear any unique features or a unique character combination"; it differs from rostra of other Early Jurassic Chinese sauropodomorphs, but it cannot be ruled out that the differences are caused by its poor preservation, making it a nomen dubium.[4]
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