Wumengosaurus Temporal range: Anisian, 247.2–242 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	†Sauropterygia
Clade:	†Eosauropterygia
Genus:	†Wumengosaurus Jiang et al., 2008
Type species
†Wumengosaurus delicatomandibularis Jiang et al., 2008
Other species
†W. rotundicarpus Qin et al. 2021

Wumengosaurus is an extinct aquatic reptile from the Middle Triassic (late Anisian stage) Guanling Formation of Guizhou, southwestern China. It was originally described as a basal eosauropterygian and usually is recovered as such by phylogenetic analyses,^[1][2][3] although one phylogeny has placed it as the sister taxon to Ichthyosauromorpha while refraining from a formal re-positioning.^[4] It was a relatively small reptile, measuring 95.5–130.5 cm (3.13–4.28 ft) in total body length.^[1]

In 2021, Qin et al. described an additional specimen from Guizhou (Panzhou District) as a new species of Wumengosaurus, W. rotundicarpus.^[5]

Classification

In the 2023 description of Luopingosaurus, Xu et al. recovered Wumengosaurus as a derived pachypleurosaurid, as the sister taxon to the clade formed by Luopingosaurus and Honghesaurus. The results of their phylogenetic analyses are shown in the cladogram below:^[6]