''Coniophis'' is an extinct

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

s from the late

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

period. The type species, '' Coniophis precedes'', was about 7 cm long and had snake-like teeth and body form, with a

skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

and a largely

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 isla ...

-like bone structure. It probably ate small

vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

s. The fossil remains of ''Coniophis'' were first discovered at the end of the 19th century in the

Lance Formation The Lance (Creek) Formation is a division of Late Cretaceous (dating to about 69–66 Ma) rocks in the western United States. Named after Lance Creek, Wyoming, the microvertebrate fossils and dinosaurs represent important components of the lates ...

of the US state of

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, and were described in 1892 by Othniel Charles Marsh. For the genus ''Coniophis'', a number of other species have been described. Their affiliation is, however, poorly secured, mostly based on vertebrae descriptions from only a few fossils.

Fossil distribution

Fossils of ''Coniophis'' have been found in: ;Cretaceous * Milk River and

Frenchman Formation The Frenchman Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian) Geochronology, age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is present in southern Saskatchewan and the Cypress Hills (C ...

s, Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan) *

Intertrappean Beds The Intertrappean Beds are a Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene geologic unit in India. These beds are found as interbeds between Deccan Traps layers, including the slightly older Lameta Formation. They consist a number of different subgroups ...

, India *

Wadi Milk Formation The Wadi Milk Formation is a geological formation in Sudan whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. Originally, the formation was thought to be Albian to Cenomanian, later research has provided dating to the Campanian to Maastrichtian. Dino ...

, Sudan * United States **

Hell Creek Formation The Hell Creek Formation is an intensively studied division of mostly Upper Cretaceous and some lower Paleocene rocks in North America, named for exposures studied along Hell Creek, near Jordan, Montana. The Formation (stratigraphy), formation s ...

, Montana **

Fruitland Formation The Fruitland Formation is a geologic formation found in the San Juan Basin in the states of New Mexico and Colorado, in the United States of America. It contains fossils dating it to the Campanian age of the late Cretaceous.

, New Mexico ** Naturita, Cedar Mountain, Straight Cliffs,

Kaiparowits The Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah is a federally recognized tribe of Southern Paiute and Ute Indians in southwestern Utah. Reservation The Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah (PITU) has a reservation composed of ten separate parcels of land, located in ...

and

Wahweap Formation The Wahweap Formation of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument is a geological Formation (geology), formation in southern Utah and northern Arizona, around the Lake Powell region, whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous (Campan ...

s, Utah **

, Wyoming ;Paleocene *

Santa Lucía Formation The Santa Lucía Formation is a Maastrichtian to Paleocene (Danian) geologic Formation (geology), formation in Bolivia. Fossil ornithopod tracks have been reported from the Cretaceous lower part of the formation.Weishampel, et al., 2004, pp.517-607 ...

(

Tiupampan The Tiupampan () age is a period of geologic time (64.5–62.5 Ma) within the Paleocene epoch of the Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from th ...

), Bolivia * Jbel Guersif Formation, Morocco *

Fort Union Formation The Fort Union Formation is a geologic unit containing sandstones, shales, and coal beds in Wyoming, Montana, and parts of adjacent states. In the Powder River Basin, it contains important economic deposits of coal, uranium, and coalbed methane. ...

, Montana, United States ;Eocene *

Itaboraí Formation The Itaboraí Formation () is a highly list of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Brazil, fossiliferous geologic Formation (geology), formation and LagerstätteKellner & Campos, 1999, p.399 of the Itaboraí Basin in Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio d ...

, Brazil * France * Aït Ouarhitane Formation, Morocco * United States **

Chadron Formation Chadron Formation is a rock formation in North Dakota, South Dakota, northwestern Nebraska, and eastern Wyoming. It is named after the town of Chadron, Nebraska Chadron ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Dawes County, Nebraska, United St ...

, North Dakota ** Bridger, Wagon Bed and

Wasatch Formation The Wasatch Formation (Tw)Shroba & Scott, 2001, p.3 is an extensive highly fossiliferous Formation (geology), geologic formation stretching across several basins in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and western Colorado.Jean Piveteau Jean Piveteau (23 September 1899 – 7 March 1991) was a distinguished French vertebrate paleontologist. He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1956 and served as the institute's president in 1973. Legacy Two genera of Triassic f ...

: ' Masson, Paris 1955. S. 606–662 * J. Alan Holman: ' Indiana University Press, Bloomington 2000. . * Nicholas R. Longrich, Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar, Jacques A. Gauthier: ' In: ''Nature'', 2012. , S. 1–4. * Nicholas R. Longrich, Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar, Jacques A. Gauthier: ' In: ''Nature'', 2012. , S. 1–10. * Othniel Charles Marsh: ' In: ' 43, 1892. S. 449–453. * Paul Orman McGrew, Max K. Hecht, John M. Hummel, George Gaylord Simpson, Albert Elmer Wood: ' In: ' 117, 1959. S. 117–176.
Volltext
* Jean-Claude Rage: ' In: ''Palaeontographica Abteilung A'' 25, 1988. S. 3–27. * Jean-Claude Rage, C. Werner: ' In: ''Palaeontologia Africana'' 35, 1999. S. 85–110. * Jean-Claude Rage, Guntupalli V.R. Prasad, Sunil Bajpai: ' In: ' 25, 2004. , S. 425–434. * Jean-Claude Rage, Marc Augé: ' In: ''Geobios'' 42, 2010. , 253–268. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1126074 Cretaceous snakes Eocene snakes Turonian genus first appearances Priabonian extinctions Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary Late Cretaceous reptiles of Africa Late Cretaceous reptiles of Asia Fossils of India Late Cretaceous reptiles of North America Cretaceous Canada Cretaceous United States Fossils of Canada Fossils of the United States Eocene reptiles of Africa Fossils of Morocco Eocene reptiles of Europe Eocene France Fossils of France Paleocene reptiles of North America Paleogene United States Paleocene reptiles of South America Paleocene Bolivia Fossils of Bolivia Tiupampan Eocene Brazil Fossils of Brazil Itaboraian Fossil taxa described in 1892 Taxa named by Othniel Charles Marsh Paleocene reptiles of Africa Eocene reptiles of North America Eocene reptiles of South America Paleocene snakes Cretaceous India Cretaceous Sudan