Archaeovaranus
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Archaeovaranus
''Archaeovaranus'' (meaning "ancient '' Varanus''") is genus of varanid lizard from the early Eocene (Ypresian) Yuhuangding Formation of Hubei Province, China. The genus contains a single species, ''Archaeovaranus lii'', known from a nearly complete skeleton. The holotype, which includes an intact skull, is associated but disarticulated. ''Archaeovaranus'' fills a gap in the varanid fossil record, as it represents a stem-varanid from the early Eocene of East Asia, and is the closest known relative of '' Varanus''. Discovery and naming The holotype specimen of ''Archaeovaranus'', IVPP V 22770, was discovered at the Dajian locality of the Yuhuangding Formation near Danjiangkou, Hubei Province, China. The generic name, "''Archaeovaranus''," combines the Greek "archaīos," meaning "ancient," with a reference to the closely related ''Varanus''. "''Varanus''" is derived from the Arabic "waral," meaning "lizard beast." The specific name, "''lii''," honors the paleontologist Chuank ...
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Varanidae
The Varanidae are a family of lizards in the superfamily Varanoidea within the Anguimorpha group. The family, a group of carnivorous and frugivorous lizards, includes the living genus '' Varanus'' and a number of extinct genera more closely related to ''Varanus'' than to the earless monitor lizard (''Lanthanotus''). ''Varanus'' includes the Komodo dragon (the largest living lizard), crocodile monitor, savannah monitor, the goannas of Australia and Southeast Asia, and various other species with a similarly distinctive appearance. Their closest living relatives are the earless monitor lizard and chinese crocodile lizard. The oldest members of the family are known from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. Taxonomy The Varanidae were defined (using morphological characteristics) by Estes, de Queiroz and Gauthier (1988) as the clade containing the most recent common ancestor of ''Lanthanotus'' and ''Varanus'' and all of its descendants. A similar definition was formulated by Conrad ''et al ...
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2022 In Reptile Paleontology
This list of fossil reptiles described in 2022 is a list of new taxa of fossil reptiles that were described during the year 2022, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to reptile paleontology that occurred in 2022. Squamates New taxa Research * A study aiming to determine whether the squamate fossil record contains reliable phylogenetic information in spite of its incompleteness is published by Woolley ''et al.'' (2022). * The first fossil material of scincomorph lizards from the Campanian Nenjiang Formation (Jilin, China) is described by Yang ''et al.'' (2022). * Vullo ''et al.'' (2022) reinterpret the fossil material of '' Jeddaherdan aleadonta'' as Quaternary in age, and consider it to be a fossil material of a member of the genus ''Uromastyx''. * First fossil material of galliwasp from Cuba reported to date is described from the Late Pleistocene of El Abrón Cave by Syromyatnikova & Aranda (2022), providing the first data on tooth and jaw morpholog ...
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Monitor Lizard
Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recognized. Monitor lizards have long necks, powerful tails and claws, and well-developed limbs. The adult length of extant species ranges from in some species, to over in the case of the Komodo dragon, though the extinct varanid known as megalania (''Varanus priscus'') may have been capable of reaching lengths more than . Most monitor species are terrestrial, but arboreal and semiaquatic monitors are also known. While most monitor lizards are carnivorous, eating eggs, smaller reptiles, fish, birds, insects, and small mammals, some also eat fruit and vegetation, depending on where they live. Distribution The various species cover a vast area, occurring through Africa, the Indian subcontinent, to China, the Ryukyu Islands in southern Japan, s ...
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Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "dawn") and (''kainós'', "new") and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the Eocene is marked by a brief period in which the concentration of the carbon isotope Carbon-13, 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope Carbon-12, 12C. The end is set at a major extinction event called the ''Grande Coupure'' (the "Great Break" in continuity) or the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event, which may be related to the impact of one or more large bolides in Popigai impact structure, Siberia and in what is now ...
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Proplatynotia
''Proplatynotia'' is an extinct genus of varanoid lizard from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. Fossils have been found in the Barun Goyot Formation, which is mid-Campanian in age. The type and only species, ''P. longirostratia'', was named in 1984. Description ''Proplatynotia'' was named in 1984 from a single holotype skull cataloged as ZPAL MgR-I/68. The skull is mostly complete except for damage in the posterior area. Rounded plates of osteoderms cover the top surface and would have been covered in scales in life. Compared to other Cretaceous varanoids, ''Proplatynotia'' was medium-sized with a skull about long. Its skull is long and slender, giving the type species ''P. longirostratia'' its name, which means "long snout." Bones in the back of the skull called parietals are enlarged, indicating that it may have had larger jaw muscles and a stronger bite than most monitor lizards. ''Proplatynotia'' has many primitive varanoid features, including nostrils that are placed nea ...
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Telmasaurus
''Telmasaurus'' is an extinct genus of varanoid lizard from the Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ... of Mongolia. Fossils have been found from the Djadokhta Formation, Djadokha and Barun Goyot Formations that date between the early and middle Campanian stage from approximately 80 to 75 million years ago. The type species ''Telmasaurus grangeri'' was named in 1943. Description ''Telmasaurus grangeri'' was named in 1943 and is now known from several fossils. Only two skulls are known, and the snout region is missing from both. Based on the size of these skulls, ''Telmasaurus'' was larger than other Cretaceous varanoid lizards, approaching the size of modern monitor lizards. Its skull is flatter than most other varanoids. The fusion of two bones in t ...
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Aiolosaurus
''Aiolosaurus'' is an extinct genus of monitor lizard from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. The type and only species, ''Aiolosaurus oriens'', was named in 2000 from Ukhaa Tolgod, a rich fossil site in the Campanian-age Djadochta Formation. Description and history ''Aiolosaurus'' was named in 2000 on the basis of a single holotype specimen cataloged as IGM 3/171. This specimen includes a partial skull and parts of the postcranial skeleton. ''Aiolosaurus'' is named after Aeolus, the Greek god of wind, while the specific name of ''A. oriens'' means "east." Diagnostic features of ''Aiolosaurus'' are found mainly in the skull. They include: *The division of the nasals into two bones (they form one bone in living monitors). *A small hole in the snout between the premaxilla and maxilla bones called the premaxillary fenestra. *The separation of the premaxilla and septomaxilla bones by a projection of the maxilla bone. *The small size of another hole in the snout called the septo ...
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Saniwa Ensidens
''Saniwa'' is an extinct genus of varanid lizard that lived about 48 million years ago during the Eocene epoch. It is known from well-preserved fossils found in the Bridger and Green River Formations of Wyoming. The type species ''S. ensidens'' was described in 1870 as the first fossil lizard known from North America. Several other species have since been added, but their validity is uncertain. It is a close relative of '' Varanus'', the genus that includes monitor lizards. Description ''Saniwa'' measured . Like other varanid lizards, ''Saniwa'' had a long, pointed snout and nostrils placed farther back in the skull than most lizards and a tail that was almost twice as long as the body. Although similar in appearance to extant monitor lizards, ''Saniwa'' had many primitive traits, including teeth on its palate, a jugal bone beneath the eye that extended farther forward, and a suture between the frontal and parietal bones that was straight rather than curved. A study in 2018 by ...
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