Purranisaurus is an extinct genus of marine crocodyliform from the Middle to Late Jurassic period of Chile and Vaca Muerta of Argentina. Rusconi originally regarded Purranisaurus potens (the type species) to be a plesiosaur; however, Gasparini demonstrated that it was in fact a metriorhynchid crocodyliform, and that may be a junior synonym of Metriorhynchus. It was about long and weighed . Taxonomy and phylogeny In the 2000s phylogenetic analysis has shown that Purranisaurus is a distinct metriorhynchid genus. A subsequent study expanded the genus Purranisaurus to include Metriorhynchus casamiquelai and M. westermanni. Following the re-description of the holotype of the type species, only that species is now referred to Purranisaurus. References Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera Prehistoric marine crocodylomorphs Jurassic crocodylomorphs Jurassic Argentina Fossils of Argentina Neuquén Basin Jurassic Chile Fossils of Chile Fossil taxa described in 1948