Coniasaurus

Coniasaurus is an extinct genus of Late Cretaceous marine squamates that range in age from Cenomanian to Santonian.[1] It was first described by Richard Owens in 1850 from lower Cenomanian chalk deposits in southeast England.[2] Two species have been described from this genus: C.crassidens (Owen, 1850), known from Cenomanian to Santonian deposits from southeast England, Germany and North America, and C. gracilodens (Caldwell, 1999) from the Cenomanian of southeast England.[1]

Coniasaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 100–84 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	†Dolichosauridae
Genus:	†Coniasaurus Owen, 1850
Species
†C. cressidus Owen, 1850 (type) †C. gracilodens

Coniasaurus has only been described from incomplete specimens, but it is known to have had a relatively elongate skull with specialised teeth.[1] By comparison with Dolichosaurus, it may have had four short limbs and an elongate neck and body. A maximum length of about 0.5 m has been proposed.[2]

Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Coniasaurus is a sister group to the Mosasauroidea within the clade Pythonomorpha.[3]

References

1. Shimada K. & Bell G.L.Jr (2006). "Coniasaurus Owen, 1850 (Reptilia: Squamata), from the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Chalk of western Kansas". Journal of Paleontology. 80 (3): 589–593. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2006)80[589:corsft]2.0.co;2.
2. Caldwell M.W. & Cooper J.A. (1999). "Redescription, palaeobiogeography and palaeoecology of Coniasaurus crassidens Owen, 1850 (Squamata) from the Lower Chalk (Cretaceous; Cenomanian) of SE England" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 127 (4): 423–452. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1999.tb01380.x.
3. Caldwell M.A. (1999). "Squamate phylogeny and the relationships of snakes and mosasauroids" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 125 (1): 115–147. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1999.tb00587.x.