Austronaga

Austronaga (meaning "southern naga") is an extinct genus of dinocephalosaurid archosauromorph reptile from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) Guanling Formation of China.

[1] The Austronaga holotype specimen, IVPP V18579, was discovered in sediments of the Guanling Formation (Member II), which has been dated to the Anisian age (Pelsonian substage) of the middle Triassic period, near Waina Village in Luoping County of Yunnan Province, China.

[1] In 2023, Wang, Lei & Li described Austronaga minuta as a new genus and species of tanystropheid archosauromorph based on these fossil remains.

The generic name, "''Austronaga", combines the Latin word "austral", meaning "southern", in reference to the type locality in the South China Block, with "naga", referencing a water-dwelling snakelike figure in Asian mythology.

[1] Wang, Lei & Li (2023) recovered Austronaga as a member of the Dinocephalosauridae, as the sister taxon to Dinocephalosaurus.