Dongusia is an extinct genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of rauisuchid reptile from the Middle Triassic

Middle Triassic

In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epochs of the Triassic period or the middle of three series in which the Triassic system is divided. It spans the time between 245 ± 1.5 Ma and 228 ± 2 Ma...

 of Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. The type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 D. colorata was named by German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene

Friedrich von Huene

Friedrich von Huene was a German paleontologist who named more dinosaurs in the early 20th century than anyone else in Europe.-Biography:...

 in 1940 on the basis of a single vertebra. This bone was found in the Sol-Iletsky District

Sol-Iletsky District

Sol-Iletsky District is an administrative and municipal district , one of the 35 in Orenburg Oblast, Russia....

 of Orenburg Oblast

Orenburg Oblast

Orenburg Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Orenburg. From 1938 to 1957, it bore the name Chkalov Oblast in honor of Valery Chkalov...

. Huene thought Dongusia was a primitive archosauriform. In the 1960s, D. coloratawas included in the early archosauriform genus Erythrosuchus

Erythrosuchus

Erythrosuchus is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile from the Triassic of South Africa and Namibia. Remains have been found from the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group in the Karoo of South Africa as well as the Omingonde Formation in Namibia.Erythrosuchus was the largest...

. In 1970, similarities were noted between the Dongusia vertebra and those of the rauisuchid "Mandasuchus

Mandasuchus

"Mandasuchus" is an extinct genus of prestosuchid rauisuchian that is yet to be formally described. Thus, the name is considered a nomen nudum. Fossils have been found from the Manda Formation of Tanzania and date back to the Ladinian or Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic. The name was first used...

" from Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

. The vertebra is now thought to belong to a rauisuchid, but the genus Dongusia is considered a nomen dubium

Nomen dubium

In zoological nomenclature, a nomen dubium is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application...

because there are no diagnostic features in the single bone that distinguish it from other rauisuchids.