''Peltosaurus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

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 ...

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 ...

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

from

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

that lived from the

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' ...

to the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

. ''Peltosaurus'' belongs to the anguid subfamily

Glyptosaurinae Glyptosaurinae is an extinct subfamily of anguid lizards that lived in the Northern Hemisphere during the Late Cretaceous and the Paleogene. Description Glyptosaurines are known primarily from their osteoderms, scale-like pieces of bone that ar ...

. The type species ''Peltosaurus granulosus'' was named in 1873 by American paleontologist

Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontologist, comparative anatomist, herpetologist, and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested ...

. Many additional species have been named, but most have been reassigned to different genera. For example, ''Peltosaurus piger'', named in 1928, was reclassified as '' Odaxosaurus piger'', and ''P. jepseni'', named in 1942 from the Paleocene of Wyoming, but was later reclassified as '' Proxestops jepseni''. In 1955 a new species, ''Peltosaurus macrodon'', was named from the Eocene of California. Lizard bones from the

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...

of Nebraska were attributed to a new species of ''Peltosaurus'' called ''P. minimus'' in 1976, extending the fossil range of ''Peltosaurus'' and Glyptosaurinae into the

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

. However, these bones were later referred to a genus of

skink Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Ski ...

s called ''

Eumeces The genus ''Eumeces'' (family Scincidae) comprises four African to Middle-Eastern skink species. Systematics Recently two taxonomic revisions have been made regarding the 19th century genus ''Eumeces''. They both resulted in similar results; the ...

'', meaning that the fossil range of ''Peltosaurus'' and Glyptosaurinae does not go beyond the

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

. The name ''Peltosaurus'' was going to be used for the

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

now named ''

Sauropelta ''Sauropelta'' ( ; meaning 'lizard shield') is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaur that existed in the Early Cretaceous Period of North America. One species (''S. edwardsorum'') has been named although others may have existed. Anatomically, ''Saurop ...

'', but when it was realized that the name was preoccupied, ''Sauropelta'' was substituted.Worth, Graeme
''Peltosaurus''
The Dinosaur Encyclopaedia. Accessed 2012-12-07.

References

External links

''Peltosaurus''
in the

Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ...

''Peltosaurus'' skull
at the

Science Museum of Minnesota Science Museum of Minnesota is an American museum focused on topics in technology, natural history, physical science, and mathematics education. Founded in 1907 and located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution is staffed ...

Paleogene lizards Eocene lepidosaurs Oligocene lepidosaurs Miocene lepidosaurs Eocene reptiles of North America Oligocene genus extinctions Fossil taxa described in 1873 {{paleo-lizard-stub