Elachistosuchus

Elachistosuchus is an extinct genus of neodiapsid reptile, most likely basal archosauromorph, known from the Late Triassic Arnstadt Formation of Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It contains a single species, Elachistosuchus huenei, known from a single individual E. huenei, originally considered a pseudosuchian archosaur and then a rhynchocephalian lepidosaur, was largely ignored in the scientific literature, as its small size and fragility did not permit further mechanical preparation and examination. More recently however, a non-invasive μCT scanning was performed to resolve its placement within Reptilia, and found it to represent a more basal reptile, potentially closely related to several early archosauromorph clades.

==Discovery== Fossils of Elachistosuchus were first described and named by the German paleontologist Werner Janensch in 1949, with the type species being Elachistosuchus huenei. The generic name is derived from Greek ἐλάχιστος / elachistos, meaning "diminutive", and suchus, Latinized Greek souchos, an Egyptian crocodile god, in reference to the size of the holotype and its identification by Janensch as a pseudosuchian archosaur. The specific name huenei honors the German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene who greatly contributed to the study of various vertebrate groups, especially extinct reptiles.