Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

Opetiosaurus

Extinct genus of lizards From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Opetiosaurus
Remove ads

Opetiosaurus is an extinct genus of Late Cretaceous marine or semiaquatic lizard classified as part of the family Aigialosauridae within the Mosasauroidea. Exclusively found in deposits of Cenomanian age near Hvar, Croatia, the genus contain one valid species, O. bucchichi. It was a small reptile measuring 1 metre (3.3 ft) long.[1]

Thumb
Skull

Quick facts Scientific classification, Binomial name ...

The genus was diagnosed as congenetic with Aigialosaurus by Dutchak and Caldwell (2009),[2] being re-diagnosed as "Aigialosaurus bucchichi" and only separated by some minor anatomical differences between specimens of the two species. Madzia & Cau (2017)[3] show that the two species are not necessarily more closely related to each other than either is to more derived mosasauroids, suggesting not only that Opetiosaurus is a valid genus, but also calling the validity of the Aigialosauridae as a monophyletic group into question.

Thumb
Life restoration of O. bucchichi
Remove ads

References

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads