Chroniosuchus
genus of amphibians (fossil)
Chroniosuchus (greek for “ancient crocodile”; chronos meaning “time” and suchus meaning “crocodile”) is an extinct genus of chroniosuchid from the upper Permian period. The genus was first named by Vjuschkov in 1957.
Chroniosuchus is known for its distinctive body armor of large bony plates, known as scutes, that cover its back and sides. These scutes varied among species providing clues of their evolution and classification among the Chroniosuchidae family.
History and discovery
The first chroniosuchian remains were found in the early 20th century along the Malaya Severnaya Dvina River of the Russian pre-Urals and were mistakenly ascribed to Kotlassia prima by Hartmann-Weinberg (1935) and was noted to have similar anatomy based on dermal armour by Olson. However, studies by Vyushkov in the 1950s marked the recognition of chroniosuchians as their own group. Golubev revised the taxonomy of Permian chroniosuchians, recognizing the distinctive features of Chroniosuchidae and Bystrowianidae. The two major subtaxa were defined mainly on their distinct osteoderm morphologies. Golubev assigned fossils previously referred to Jugosuchus to Chroniosuchus or Chroniosaurus, creating a new genus, Jarilinus, to accommodate an intermediate species. Golubev suggested that the chroniosuchids formed a phylogenetic lineage with several successive species, and defined four biostratigraphic subzones for the Russian Late Permian.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Chroniosuchus” as genus of amphibians (fossil). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as genus of amphibians (fossil). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 22, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4501721. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1957 and 1935.
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This entry incorporates text from “Chroniosuchus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.