Adriosaurus
Sign in to saveAdriosaurus is an extinct genus of squamate which lived in what is now Slovenia and other parts of Europe during the Late Cretaceous. It was a small, snake-like reptile, with the type species Adriosaurus suessi measuring up to in length. Adriosaurus represents the first occurrence of vestigial limbs in fossil lizards, having lost its manus and forearm completely in order to elongate its axial skeleton. These unique anatomical features led to discussions of the evolutionary patterns of limb reduction in Squamata.
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8 sectionsContents
- History and Discovery
- Description
- Vertebrae
- Classification and species
- Paleobiology
- Locomotion
- Diet
- References
Adriosaurus is an extinct genus of squamate which lived in what is now Slovenia and other parts of Europe during the Late Cretaceous. It was a small, snake-like reptile, with the type species Adriosaurus suessi measuring up to in length. Adriosaurus represents the first occurrence of vestigial limbs in fossil lizards, having lost its manus and forearm completely in order to elongate its axial skeleton. These unique anatomical features led to discussions of the evolutionary patterns of limb reduction in Squamata.
Adriosaurus includes three species: A. microbrachis (“micro”, meaning small, and “brachis”, meaning arm, referring to the vestigial forelimb composed of only the humerus), A. skrbinensis (named after the location where they found the fossil, Skrbina, northwest of Komen, Slovenia) and A. suessi. A. microbrachis lacks many crucial characters to be qualified for cladistic analysis.