Glyptosaurinae

Extinct subfamily of lizards

Glyptosaurinae
Temporal range: Campanian–Oligocene
PreꞒ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Fossil of the glyptosaurine Helodermoides tuberculatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Anguidae
Subfamily: Glyptosaurinae
Marsh, 1872
Subgroups

Glyptosaurinae is an extinct subfamily of anguid lizards that lived in the Northern Hemisphere during the Late Cretaceous and the Paleogene.

Description

Skull of the glyptosaurine Peltosaurus

Glyptosaurines are known primarily from their osteoderms, scale-like pieces of bone that are embedded in the skin and cover much of their bodies. The shape and extent of the osteoderms in glyptosaurines are similar to those seen in an unrelated group of lizards called Monstersauria, which includes the living Gila monster and beaded lizard.[1] The osteoderms of glyptosaurines are unusually complex, consisting of four distinct layers of bony tissue. These tissues may have derived from both the dermis (the lower layer of the skin) and the epidermis (the outer layer of the skin) during their development in the embryo. The tissue forming the outermost layer of glyptosaurine osteoderms is similar to tooth enamel and has even been given its own name, osteodermine.[2]

Glyptosaurines have been split into the subgroups Melanosaurini and Glyptosaurini, although recent phylogenetic analyses show that Melanosaurini in its traditional sense is paraphyletic, representing an evolutionary grade of glytosaurines more basal ("primitive") than Glyptosaurini. Below is a cladogram from Conrad and Norell (2008) showing the interrelationships of glyptosaurines and their relationship to other anguid lizards:[1]

Anguimorpha

Carusioidea

Anguidae

Diploglossinae

Glyptosaurinae

Odaxosaurus piger

Proxestops jepseni

Xestops vagans

Melanosaurini (sensu stricto)

Arpadosaurus gazinorum

Melanosaurus maximus

Glyptosaurini

Glyptosaurus sylvestris

Placosaurus rugosus

Proglyptosaurus huerfanensis

Paraglyptosaurus princeps

Anguinae

Gerrhonotinae

Evolutionary history

The earliest known Glyptosaurines like Odaxosaurus are known from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of North America. They arrived in Europe at the beginning of the Eocene (Ypresian). Only a single species, Stenoplacosaurus mongoliensis dating to the Mid-Eocene, is known from Asia. Glyptosaurines declined after the Mid-Eocene, become extinct in Europe by the end of the period as part of the "Grande Coupure".[3] The youngest known remains of glyptosaurines is Peltosaurus granulosus from the Monroe Creek and upper Sharps formations of Sharps Corner, South Dakota, dating to the mid Oligocene, between 27.4 and 26.4 million years ago.[4] The extinction of glyptosaurines was likely due to a cooling climate during the Oligocene.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Conrad, J. L.; Norell, M. A. (2008). "The braincases of two glyptosaurines (anguidae, Squamata) and anguid phylogeny". American Museum Novitates (3613): 1. doi:10.1206/586.1. hdl:2246/5917. S2CID 55155105.
  2. ^ De Buffrénil, V.; Dauphin, Y.; Rage, J. C.; Sire, J. Y. (2011). "An enamel-like tissue, osteodermine, on the osteoderms of a fossil anguid (Glyptosaurinae) lizard". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 10 (5–6): 427. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2011.03.010.
  3. ^ Sullivan, Robert M. (2019-10-01). "The taxonomy, chronostratigraphy and paleobiogeography of glyptosaurine lizards (Glyptosaurinae, Anguidae)". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 18 (7): 747–763. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2019.05.006. ISSN 1631-0683. S2CID 202174449.
  4. ^ Scarpetta, Simon G. (2019-05-04). "Peltosaurus granulosus (Squamata, Anguidae) from the middle Oligocene of Sharps Corner, South Dakota, and the youngest known chronostratigraphic occurrence of Glyptosaurinae". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 39 (3): e1622129. doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1622129. ISSN 0272-4634. S2CID 196690362.
  5. ^ ElShafie, Sarah J. (25 April 2014). Body Size and Species Richness Changes in Glyptosaurinae (Squamata: Anguidae) Through Climatic Transitions of the North American Cenozoic (MSc thesis). University of Nebraska. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Extinct squamate genera
Acrodonta
Agamidae
Pleurodonta / Iguanoidea
Corytophanidae
Gobiguania
Iguanidae
Phrynosomatidae
Other extinct iguanians
Arretosauridae
  • Arretosaurus
  • Dornosaurus
  • Ergiliinsaurus
  • Khaichinguana
Priscagamidae
Armandisaurus explorator
Chamopsiidae
Gilmoreteiidae / "macrocephalosaurines"
"Polyglyphanodontines"
Other polyglyphanodontians
  • Adamisaurus
  • Funiusaurus
  • Gobinatus
  • Obamadon
  • Olindalacerta?
  • Paleochelco?
  • Peneteius
  • Tchingisaurus
  • Tianyusaurus
  • Tijubina?
  • Tripennaculus
Scincogekkonomorpha
Scleroglossa
Gekkonomorpha
Gekkota
Stem Autarchoglossa
(Evansauria)
  • Parmeosaurus
  • Tepexisaurus
  • Tijubina?
Bainguidae?
Cordyloidea
  • Eocordyla
  • Ornatocephalus
  • Sakurasaurus
Lacertoidea
Amphisbaenia
  • Oligodontosaurus
  • Todrasaurus
Amphisbaenidae
Bipedidae
Blanidae
  • Blanosaurus
  • Cuvieribaena
  • Louisamphisbaena
Chthonophidae
Rhineuridae
Polyodontobaenidae
  • Polyodontobaena
Contogeniidae
  • Contogenys
  • Palaeoscincosaurus
  • Utahgenys
Lacertidae
  • Amblyolacerta
  • Camptognathosaurus?
  • Dormaalisaurus
  • Dracaenosaurus
  • Escampcerta
  • Gracilicerta
  • Ligerosaurus
  • Maioricalacerta
  • Mediolacerta
  • Plesiolacerta
  • Pseudeumeces
  • Pseudolacerta
  • Quercycerta
Teiidae
Barbatteiidae
Xantusiidae
Scincoidea
Scincidae
Other scincomorphs
Paramacellodidae
Basal anguimorphs
Mosasauroidea?
Neoanguimorpha
Carusioidea
Xenosauridae
  • Entomophontes
  • Exostinus
  • Restes
Anguidae
Anguinae
Diploglossinae
  • Apodosauriscus
  • Eodiploglossus
Gerrhonotinae
  • Paragerrhonotus
  • Parophisaurus
Glyptosaurinae
Paleoanguimorpha
Basal varanoids / platynotans
Shinisauria?
Goannasauria
Basal Goannasaurians
Varanoidea
Lanthanotidae
Varanidae
Other platynotans / varanoids
Aigialosaurus dalmaticus

Plioplatecarpus primaevus Estesia mongoliensis Telmasaurus grangeri

Varanus priscus
Indeterminate squamates
Taxon identifiers
Glyptosaurinae


Stub icon

This article about a prehistoric lizard is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e