Quasicolognathus

Quasicolognathus (lit. 'resembling Colognathus') is an extinct genus of enigmatic reptile known from the Middle Triassic Erfurt Formation of Germany. The genus contains a single species, Quasicolognathus eothen, known from a fragmentary skull and isolated mandibles. These bones exhibit striking similarities to Colognathus obscurus, a species known from the Norian of the United States. The Quasicolognathus lower jaw material was initially described in 2011 as a 'procolophonid-like tetrapod',^[1] and later assigned to Colognathus in 2013 before the eventual discovery of additional skull bones.^[2] More detailed analyses of the German fossils allowed them to be described as belonging to a distinct taxon in 2022. These two genera are placed in their own family, Colognathidae, which has uncertain relationships to other reptiles.^[3][4]