Biology:Ardeosaurus

From HandWiki
Short description: Extinct genus of lizards

Ardeosaurus
Temporal range: Tithonian
Ardeosaurus 1.JPG
Fossil specimen
Scientific classification e
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Ardeosauridae
Genus: Ardeosaurus
Meyer, 1860
Type species
Homeosaurus brevipes
Meyer, 1855
Species
  • A. brevipes (Meyer, 1855)

Ardeosaurus is an extinct genus of basal lizards, known from fossils found in the Late Jurassic Solnhofen Plattenkalk of Bavaria, southern Germany . It was originally thought to have been a species of Homeosaurus.[1]

Life restoration

Ardeosaurus was originally considered to be a distant relative to modern geckos, and had a similar physical appearance. Evans and colleagues, however, showed it in 2005 to be a basal squamate outside the crown group of all living lizards and snakes.[2] A subsequent study conducted by Simões and colleagues in 2017 corroborated its initial proposed phylogenetic placement, indicating that Ardeosaurus was a stem-gekkotan.[3] It was around 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long, with a flattened head and large eyes. It was probably nocturnal, and had jaws specialised for feeding on insects and spiders.[4]

References

  1. Meyer H. (1855). Briefliche Mitteilung an Prof. Bonn. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paleontologie 1855: 326–327.
  2. Evans, S. E., Wang, Y., & Li, C. (2005). The early Cretaceous lizard genus Yabeinosaurus from China: resolving an enigma. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 3, 319-335.
  3. Simões, T.R.; Caldwell, M.W.; Nydam, R.L.; Jiménez-Huidobro, P. (2017). "Osteology, phylogeny, and functional morphology of two Jurassic lizard species and the early evolution of scansoriality in geckoes". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 180 (1): 216–241. doi:10.1111/zoj.12487. 
  4. Palmer, D., ed (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-84028-152-1. 

Wikidata ☰ Q3621872 entry