Coniasaurus
| Coniasaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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| C. crassidens holotype, drawn by James Erxleben in 1850 | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | †Dolichosauridae |
| Genus: | †Coniasaurus Owen, 1850 |
| Species | |
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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 Owen in 1850 from lower Cenomanian chalk deposits in South East England (Sussex).[2][3] Two species have been described from this genus: C. crassidens (Owen, 1850), known from Cenomanian to Santonian deposits from South East England, Germany and North America, and C. gracilodens (Caldwell, 1999) from the Cenomanian of southeast England.[1]
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 between 0.5–1 m (1.6–3.3 ft) has been proposed.[3][4]
Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Coniasaurus is a sister group to the Mosasauroidea within the clade Pythonomorpha.[5]
References
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- ^ Owen, R. (1850). Descriptions of the fossils of the Chalk Formation. Description of the fossil reptiles of the Chalk Formation. The Geology and Fossils of the Tertiary and Cretaceous Formations of Sussex 378-404
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