''Paraplacosauriops'' (near ''Placosauriops'') is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

anguid Anguidae refers to a large and diverse family of lizards native to the Northern Hemisphere. Common characteristics of this group include a reduced supratemporal arch, striations on the medial faces of tooth crowns, osteoderms, and a lateral fold ...

lizards from the middle

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

of France.

Taxonomy

''Paraplacosauriops'' was originally named ''Plestiodon quercyi'' by Filhol (1882) on the basis of dentary remains from fissure fill deposits in Quercy, France. Hoffstetter (1944) referred ''P. quercyi'' to the glyptosaurine genus '' Placosaurus'', which is likewise endemic to Europe.Hoffstetter, R. 1944. Sur les Scincidae fossiles. 1. Formes Européennes et Nord-Américaines. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 16: 547–553. However, Auge and Sullivan (2006) recognized ''quercyi'' as belonging to the tribe Melanosaurini and not a ''Placosaurus''-like glyptosaurin, so they erected ''Paraplacosauriops'' for ''P. quercyi''.R. M. Sullivan and M. Augé. 2006. Redescription of the holotype of Placosaurus rugosus gervais 1848–1852 (Squamata, Anguidae, Glyptosaurinae) from the Eocene of France and a revision of the genus. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26(1):127-132

Description

Distinguishing features of ''Paraplacosauriops'' include a distinguishing heterodont dentition, especially the anterior teeth being extremely slender, pointed and not peg-like.

References

Anguids Eocene lepidosaurs Eocene reptiles of Europe Paleogene France Fossils of France Quercy Phosphorites Formation Fossil taxa described in 2006 {{paleo-lizard-stub