Hupehsuchus is an extinct genus of small marine reptiles, about 1 m (3 ft) long, found in the area of Hubei in China.
[1] This marine reptile lived in the Olenekian stage of the Early Triassic period.
It had a thin, long snout like a gharial, river dolphin, or ichthyosaur, which it probably used to snag fish or probe for aquatic invertebrates.
A 2023 study suggests, on the basis of cranial anatomy paralleling that of baleen whales, that Hupehsuchus could have been a filter feeder.
Many features, including the discovery of polydactyly, suggest that Hupehsuchus is related to the ichthyosaurs, but the fact that Hupehsuchus' extra digits include more bones in the hand, rather than just the fingers as in the ichthyosaurs, may discredit that theory.