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Dolichosauridae
Dolichosauridae (from Latin, ''dolichos'' = "long" and Ancient Greek, Greek ''sauros''= lizard) is a family of Cretaceous Aquatic animal, aquatic lizards. They are widely considered to be the earliest and most primitive members of Mosasauria, though some researchers have recovered them as more closely related to snakes. Description ''Dolichosaurus'' was a small marine squamate at about 0.5 to 1 meter in total length. ''Coniasaurus'' was similarly sized at about 0.5 meters in length. They were elongated (especially apparent in the neck) marine lizards with reduced limbs and small, thin heads. Dolichosaurs may have occupied a niche similar to the earlier nothosaurs and modern sea snakes, in using their thin heads to feed in crevices and narrow spaces along coral reefs and rocky shores. One of the earliest dolichosaurs, ''Kaganaias'' from Barremian, probably lived in Fresh water, freshwater environment unlike other members in the family. Despite their aquatic nature, fluctuations i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pythonomorpha
Mosasauria is a clade of Aquatic animal, aquatic and semiaquatic squamates that lived during the Cretaceous period. Fossils belonging to the group have been found in all continents around the world. Early mosasaurians like Dolichosauridae, dolichosaurs were small long-bodied lizards that inhabited Littoral zone, nearshore coastal and freshwater environments; the Late Cretaceous saw the rise of large marine forms, the mosasaurids, which are the clade's best-known members. The clade is defined as all common descent, descendants of the last common ancestor of the mosasaur ''Mosasaurus hoffmannii'' and dolichosaurs ''Dolichosaurus'', ''Coniasaurus'', and ''Adriosaurus, Adriosaurus suessi''. Its placement within the squamate tree is highly controversial. Two prominent hypotheses include the Varanoidea, varanoid hypothesis, which holds that mosasaurians are most closely related to monitor lizards, and the pythonomorph hypothesis, which argues for a sister group, sister relationship wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mosasauria
Mosasauria is a clade of aquatic and semiaquatic squamates that lived during the Cretaceous period. Fossils belonging to the group have been found in all continents around the world. Early mosasaurians like dolichosaurs were small long-bodied lizards that inhabited nearshore coastal and freshwater environments; the Late Cretaceous saw the rise of large marine forms, the mosasaurids, which are the clade's best-known members. The clade is defined as all descendants of the last common ancestor of the mosasaur '' Mosasaurus hoffmannii'' and dolichosaurs '' Dolichosaurus'', '' Coniasaurus'', and '' Adriosaurus suessi''. Its placement within the squamate tree is highly controversial. Two prominent hypotheses include the varanoid hypothesis, which holds that mosasaurians are most closely related to monitor lizards, and the pythonomorph hypothesis, which argues for a sister relationship with snakes. A third ophidiomorph hypothesis argues that snakes are members of the Mosasauria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tetrapodophis
''Tetrapodophis'' (Greek meaning "four-footed snake") is an extinct genus of lizard from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) aged Crato Formation of Brazil. It has an elongated snake-like body, with four disproportionately short limbs. ''Tetrapodophis'' has been considered by some authors to be one of the oldest members of Ophidia; the taxonomic group which includes snakes and some of their closest extinct relatives. However, this classification has been disputed by some other authors, who identify ''Tetrapodophis'' as a dolichosaurid. The exact phylogenetic placement of Dolichosauridae is also disputed. Dolichosaurids could be related to Ophidia, which would mean that ''Tetrapodophis'' is indeed related to snakes, albeit more distantly than previously thought. Alternatively, dolichosaurids could be more closely related to mosasaurs. Description ''Tetrapodophis'' possesses small yet well-developed fore- and hindlimbs like a lizard and a long body similar to a snake, around in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dolichosaurus
''Dolichosaurus'' (meaning "long lizard") is an extinct genus of marine squamate of the Upper Cretaceous Cenomanian chalk deposits of England. It is a member of the family Dolichosauridae Dolichosauridae (from Latin, ''dolichos'' = "long" and Ancient Greek, Greek ''sauros''= lizard) is a family of Cretaceous Aquatic animal, aquatic lizards. They are widely considered to be the earliest and most primitive members of Mosasauria, tho ....Michael W. CaldwellOn the aquatic squamate ''Dolichosaurus longicollis'' Owen, 1850 (Cenomanian, Upper Cretaceous), and the evolution of elongate necks in squamates ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 20(4):720-735. 2000. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020 720:OTASDL.0.CO;2 It was a small reptile measuring long. It had an elongate neck resulting from an increased number of cervical vertebrae. References Dolichosauridae Cretaceous lizards Late Cretaceous lepidosaurs of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1850 Taxa named by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaganaias
''Kaganaias'' (meaning ' Kaga water nymph') is an extinct genus of basal and oldest dolichosaur that lived in what is now Japan during the Early Cretaceous. ''Kaganaias'' was semi-aquatic and is the only known aquatic squamate from before the Cenomanian stage of the Cretaceous. It is also the first to be found in an inland area, instead of on the coast where aquatic squamates are commonly found.Evans, S.E., Manabe, M., Noro, M., Isaji, S. & Yamaguchi, M. (2006). "A Long-Bodied Lizard From The Lower Cretaceous Of Japan." ''Palaeontology'', 49.6, 2006, pp. 1143–1165. Its generic name is derived from Kaga Province, the old name for the Ishikawa Prefecture where the specimens were found, while the species name ''hakusanensis'' comes from the mountain that gives its name to Hakusan the city near its find site. The geological formation in which the specimens were found, the Kuwajima Formation, stands alongside the Tetori River and has been the site of numerous other finds including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lizard
Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic islands, oceanic Archipelago, island chains. The grouping is Paraphyly, paraphyletic as some lizards are more closely related to snakes than they are to other lizards. Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3-meter-long Komodo dragon. Most lizards are quadrupedal, running with a strong side-to-side motion. Some lineages (known as "legless lizards") have secondarily lost their legs, and have long snake-like bodies. Some lizards, such as the forest-dwelling ''Draco (genus), Draco'', are able to glide. They are often Territory (animal), territorial, the males fighting off other males and signalling, often with bright colours, to attract mates and to intimidate rivals. Lizards are mainly carnivorous, often b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mosasaurs
Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Greek ' meaning 'lizard') are an extinct group of large aquatic reptiles within the family Mosasauridae that lived during the Late Cretaceous. Their first fossil remains were discovered in a limestone quarry at Maastricht on the Meuse in 1764. They belong to the order Squamata, which includes lizards and snakes. During the last 20 million years of the Cretaceous period (Turonian–Maastrichtian ages), with the extinction of the ichthyosaurs and pliosaurs, mosasaurids became the dominant marine predators. They themselves became extinct as a result of the K-Pg event at the end of the Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago. Description Mosasaurs breathed air, were powerful swimmers, and were well-adapted to living in the warm, shallow inland seas prevalent during the Late Cretaceous period. Mosasaurs were so well adapted to this environment that they most likely gave birth to live young, rather than returning to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Primitivus Manduriensis
Primitivus may refer to: Saints * Saint Primitivus, Roman Christian martyr, son of Symphorosa, died in 138 * Saint Primitivus, Spanish Christian martyr, one of Facundus and Primitivus, died in 300 Animals * ''Primitivus manduriensis'', extinct species of reptile belonging to the family Dolichosauridae Dolichosauridae (from Latin, ''dolichos'' = "long" and Ancient Greek, Greek ''sauros''= lizard) is a family of Cretaceous Aquatic animal, aquatic lizards. They are widely considered to be the earliest and most primitive members of Mosasauria, tho ... Software * Text-based user interface in Linux software Libervia {{Disambiguation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judeasaurus
''Judeasaurus'' is an extinct genus of small, aquatic varanoid lizard related to the mosasauroids. The only known specimen is from the Late Cretaceous of the Judean Hills and the West Bank Palestine, though its exact provenance is uncertain. Description The specimen consists of an incomplete but partly articulated skull and a number of cervical vertebrae exposed in ventral view on a small slab of pink-grey limestone. The skull includes a fragmentary right maxilla (with teeth), the co-ossified frontals and parietals, right jugal, postorbitofrontals, supratemporals, squamosals, quadrates, the right dentary and fragmentary postdentary bones; the occipital region of the skull is hidden beneath a calcareous deposit. Some elements, such as the jugals, are preserved only as impressions. The skull is small, measuring only 60–70 millimeters in length. History There is some doubt surrounding the provenance of the holotype and only known specimen (HUJI P4000, Hebrew University of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coniasaurus
''Coniasaurus'' is an extinct genus of Late Cretaceous marine squamates that range in age from Cenomanian to Santonian. It was first described by Richard Owen in 1850 from lower Cenomanian chalk deposits in South East England (Sussex). Two species have been described from this genus: ''C. crassidens'' (Owen, 1850), known from Cenomanian to Santonian deposits from South East England, Germany and North America, and ''C. gracilodens'' (Caldwell, 1999) from the Cenomanian of southeast England. ''Coniasaurus'' has only been described from incomplete specimens, but it is known to have had a relatively elongate skull with specialised teeth. By comparison with '' Dolichosaurus'', it may have had four short limbs and an elongate neck and body. A maximum length between has been proposed. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that ''Coniasaurus'' is a sister group to the Mosasauroidea within the clade Pythonomorpha Mosasauria is a clade of Aquatic animal, aquatic and semiaquatic squamates th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aphanizocnemus
''Aphanizocnemus'' is an extinct genus of lizard from Lebanon. It is a marine lizard that lived during the Late Cretaceous. It is often classified in the family Dolichosauridae as a close relative of snakes, although some studies have placed it as an even closer relative to snakes than dolichosaurids. Only one species of ''Aphanizocnemus'' is known, the type species ''A. libanensis''. ''A. libanensis'' was named in 1997 on the basis of a single complete skeleton. Although the type locality is unknown, it is said to "almost certainly" originate from the Sannine Formation. ''Aphanizocnemus'' is about long, and the tail makes up half of its length. The hands and feet are very large in comparison to the limb bones. The flattened shape of the phalanges The phalanges (: phalanx ) are digit (anatomy), digital bones in the hands and foot, feet of most vertebrates. In primates, the Thumb, thumbs and Hallux, big toes have two phalanges while the other Digit (anatomy), digits have t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adriosaurus
''Adriosaurus'' is an extinct genus of Squamata, squamate which lived in what is now Slovenia and other parts of Europe during the Late Cretaceous. It was a small, snake-like reptile, with the type species ''Adriosaurus suessi'' measuring up to in length. ''Adriosaurus'' represents the first occurrence of vestigial limbs in fossil lizards, having lost its Manus (anatomy), manus and forearm completely in order to elongate its axial skeleton. These unique anatomical features led to discussions of the evolutionary patterns of limb reduction in Squamata.Alessandro Palci and Michael W. Caldwell. 2007. Vestigial Forelimbs and Axial Elongation in a 95 Million-Year-Old Non-Snake Squamate. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Vol. 27, No. 1. pp. 1-7 ''Adriosaurus'' includes three species: ''A. microbrachis'' (“micro”, meaning small, and “brachis”, meaning arm, referring to the vestigial forelimb composed of only the humerus), ''A. skrbinensis'' (named after the location where they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
