Wanosuchus 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 sebecosuchia

Sebecosuchia

Sebecosuchia is an extinct group of mesoeucrocodylian crocodyliforms that includes the families Sebecidae and Baurusuchidae. The group first appeared in the Late Cretaceous with the baurusuchids and went extinct in the Miocene with the last sebecids. Fossils have been found primarily from South...

n mesoeucrocodylia

Mesoeucrocodylia

Mesoeucrocodylia is the name of the clade that includes Eusuchia and the paraphyletic group Mesosuchia. The group appeared during the Early Jurassic, and continues to the present day....

n known from ?Paleocene

Paleocene

The Paleocene or Palaeocene, the "early recent", is a geologic epoch that lasted from about . It is the first epoch of the Palaeogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era...

-age rocks of southern Anhui

Anhui

Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...

, China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

. It is based on

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 IVPP

Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology

The Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of China is a prominent research institution and collections repository for fossils, including many dinosaur and pterosaurand cat poo specimens...

 V 6262, a nearly complete lower jaw

Mandible

The mandible pronunciation or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place...

, which is also the only known specimen. The bone lacks an external mandibular fenestra and has thirteen teeth, the longest of which are the fourth and eleventh. It was collected between 1970 and 1972 by Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) personnel; the exact location and rock unit that produced the bone are uncertain. Wanosuchus was named in 1981 by Zhang Fakui of the IVPP. 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...

 is W. atresus, a reference to the absent fenestra. Zhang classified Wanosuchus under its own family within Sebecosuchia, Wanosuchidae. It shares some characteristics with Doratodon

Doratodon

Doratodon is an extinct genus of crocodylomorph that was once believed to be a dinosaur.- Species :The type species is D. carcharidens from the Late Cretaceous of Austria, whilst the second known species is D. ibericus from the Late Cretaceous of Spain.-References:*Company, J., Suberbiola, X.P.,...

, a crocodyliform

Crocodyliformes

Crocodyliformes is a clade of crurotarsan archosaurs, the group often traditionally referred to as "crocodilians."In 1988, Michael J. Benton and James M. Clark argued that all traditional names for well-known groups of animals should be restricted to their crown clades, that is, used only for...

 from the Late Cretaceous

Late Cretaceous

The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...

 of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.