''Pamizinisaurus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of sphenodontian

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

known from

Lower Cretaceous Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eight ...

(

Albian The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous Epoch/Series. Its approximate time range is 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 100.5 ± 0.9 M ...

)

Tlayúa Formation The Tlayúa Formation is an Early Cretaceous (late Albian) geological formation near Tepexi de Rodríguez (municipality), Tepexi de Rodríguez, Puebla. Paleobiota The formation contains a diverse array of vertebrate and invertebrate fossils. Ab ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. A crushed skeleton of a juvenile reptile was found in Tlayua Quarry, in central Mexico. It was named ''Pamizinsaurus tlayuaensis'' by Reynoso in 1997, after the name of the quarry of which it was found. Its skull length is . The fossil was covered in small round

osteoderm Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates, or other structures based in the dermis. Osteoderms are found in many groups of extant and extinct reptiles and amphibians, including lizards, crocodilians, frogs, temnospondyls (extinct amp ...

s that could have protected it from predators.

Relatives

Reynoso (1997) argued that ''Pamizinsaurus'' was a genus of the subfamily

Sphenodontinae Sphenodontidae is a family within the reptile group Rhynchocephalia, comprising taxa most closely related to the living tuatara of the genus ''Sphenodon''. Historically the taxa included within Sphenodontidae have varied greatly between analyse ...

; grouping it with the modern ''

Sphenodon Tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') are reptiles endemic to New Zealand. Despite their close resemblance to lizards, they are part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. The name ''tuatara'' is derived from the Māori language a ...

'' (better known as the ''Tuatara''), '' Zapatadon'', '' Cynosphenodon'', ''

Homoeosaurus ''Homoeosaurus'' is an extinct genus of sphenodont reptile. It was found in limestone in Bavaria, Germany, as well as in France and the United Kingdom. It was related to the modern tuatara, though it was a considerably more gracile. There were se ...

'', ''

Sapheosaurus ''Sapheosaurus'' was an extinct genus of Late Jurassic Sphenodontia, sphenodont. Its skull was longer and narrower than that of ''Homoeosaurus''. It was classified as a genus of sapheosaur by Michael Benton in 1985. It reached a length of 70 ...

'', and ''

Ankylosphenodon ''Ankylosphenodon'' is an extinct species of sphenodontian known from Tepexi de Rodriguez, Mexico. It is known from Early Cretaceous sedimentary deposits from the Tlayua formation. Lifestyle ''Ankylosphenodon'' is thought to have been an aqu ...

''.

References

External links

Professor Paul's Guide to Reptiles
Sphenodontia Early Cretaceous reptiles of North America Prehistoric reptile genera {{cretaceous-reptile-stub