Ferganosuchus
Encyclopedia
Ferganosuchus is an extinct genus
of gavialid
crocodilia
n. The genus is thought to be a tomistomine
, although it has been suggested that Ferganosuchus may be a more basal gavialoid
. Fossil
s have been found in the region of Kazakhstan
and Kyrgyzstan
that date back the middle Eocene
. The genus is well known from fairly complete specimens, unlike most other Asian tomistomines, whose remains tend to be more fragmentary.
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 gavialid
Gavialidae
Gavialidae is a family of reptiles within the order Crocodilia. Gavialidae consists of only one surviving species, the gharial , which is native to India. Many extinct species are also known...
crocodilia
Crocodilia
Crocodilia is an order of large reptiles that appeared about 84 million years ago in the late Cretaceous Period . They are the closest living relatives of birds, as the two groups are the only known survivors of the Archosauria...
n. The genus is thought to be a tomistomine
Tomistominae
Tomistominae is a subfamily of crocodylians that includes one living species, the False gharial. Many more extinct species are known, extending the range of the subfamily back to the Eocene epoch...
, although it has been suggested that Ferganosuchus may be a more basal gavialoid
Gavialoidea
Gavialoidea is one of three superfamilies of crocodylians, the other two being Alligatoroidea and Crocodyloidea. Although many extinct species are known, only the gharial Gavialis gangeticus and possibly the False gharial Tomistoma schlegelii are alive today.-Classification:Gavialoidea contains the...
. Fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s have been found in the region of Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
and Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
that date back the middle Eocene
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
. The genus is well known from fairly complete specimens, unlike most other Asian tomistomines, whose remains tend to be more fragmentary.