Pabwehshi is an extinct genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of mesoeucrocodylia

Mesoeucrocodylia

Mesoeucrocodylia is the name of the clade that includes Eusuchia and the paraphyletic group Mesosuchia. The group appeared during the Early Jurassic, and continues to the present day....

n. It is based on

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 GSP

Geological Survey of Pakistan

The Geological Survey of Pakistan is Pakistan's central engineering agency in charge of mapping and surveying. It was established in 1947 in Quetta, Balochistan, is one of the research institutes of Pakistan. It is the organizational successor to the UK Ordnance Survey in that part of the world...

-UM 2000, a partial snout and corresponding lower jaw elements, with another snout assigned to it. These specimens were found in Maastrichtian

Maastrichtian

The Maastrichtian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the latest age or upper stage of the Late Cretaceous epoch or Upper Cretaceous series, the Cretaceous period or system, and of the Mesozoic era or erathem. It spanned from 70.6 ± 0.6 Ma to 65.5 ± 0.3 Ma...

-age Upper Cretaceous rocks of the Pab Formation

Pab Formation

The Pab Formation is a Mesozoic geologic formation in Balochistan, in western Pakistan. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.-Paleofauna:* Vitakridrinda* Pakisaurus* Balochisaurus* Brohisaurus...

 in Balochistan

Balochistan (Pakistan)

Balochistan is one of the four provinces or federating units of Pakistan. With an area of 134,051 mi2 or , it is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total land mass of Pakistan. According to the 1998 population census, Balochistan had a population of...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, and represent the first diagnostic crocodyliform fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

s from Cretaceous rocks of South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

. Pabwehshi had serrated interlocking teeth in its snout that formed a "zig-zag" cutting edge. Pabwehshi was named in 2001 by Jeffrey A. Wilson

Jeffrey A. Wilson

Jeffrey A. Wilson also known as "JAW "is a professor of geological sciences and assistant curator at the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan....

 and colleagues. The type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 is P. pakistanensis, in reference to the nation where it was found. It was traditionally classified as a baurusuchid

Baurusuchidae

Baurusuchidae is a Gondwanan family of mesoeucrocodylians that lived during the Late Cretaceous. It is a group of terrestrial hypercarnivorous crocodilians from South America and possibly Pakistan. Baurusuchidae has been defined as a clade containing the most recent common ancestor of Baurusuchus...

 closely related to Cynodontosuchus

Cynodontosuchus

Cynodontosuchus is an extinct genus of baurusuchid mesoeucrocodylian. Fossils have been found from Argentina of Late Cretaceous age from the Bajo de la Carpa Formation as well as the Pichi Picun Leufu Formation...

and Baurusuchus

Baurusuchus

Baurusuchus is an extinct genus of baurusuchid mesoeucrocodylian from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil. It was a terrestrial predator and scavenger, about 3.5 to 4 meters long. Baurusuchus lived during the Turonian to Santonian stages of the Late Cretaceous Period, in Adamantina Formation, Brazil...

. Larsson and Sues (2007) found close affinity between Pabwehshi and the Peirosauridae

Peirosauridae

Peirosauridae is a Gondwanan family of mesoeucrocodylians that lived during the Cretaceous period. It was a clade of terrestrial crocodyliforms that evolved a rather dog-like form, and were terrestrial carnivores. It was phylogenetically defined in 2004 as the most recent common ancestor of...

 within Sebecia

Sebecia

Sebecia is an extinct clade of mesoeucrocodylian crocodyliforms that includes peirosaurids and sebecids. It was first constructed in 2007 to include Hamadasuchus, Peirosauridae, and Sebecus. It was initially considered to be the sister taxon of the clade Neosuchia, which includes living...

. Montefeltro et al. note that Pabwehshi has a sagittal torus on its maxillary palatal shelves – a character that is absent in baurusuchids – but they did not include Pabwehshi in their phylogenetic analysis.