Chilenosuchus is an extinct genus of aetosaur. Fossils have been found from the Antofagasta Region in northern Chile. The presence of Chilenoasaurus in the beds that it was found in conflicts with the inferred age of the strata. Fossil plants and invertebrates suggest that it dates back to the late Carboniferous or early Permian, yet Chilenosuchus is an aetosaur, and the first aetosaurs appeared in the Late Triassic. Poor-quality photographs of the original specimen and an apparent lack of substantial material could not allow for definite classification of the specimen, so there was initially much controversy as to whether or not the fossil was from a true aetosaur. However, a reevaluation in 2003 upon the relocation of the material showed that it was in fact an aetosaur and that the strat