Saniwa

Saniwa is an extinct genus of varanid lizard that lived during the Eocene epoch. It is known from well-preserved fossils found in the Bridger and Green River Formations of Wyoming, United States. The type species S. ensidens was described in 1870 as the first fossil lizard known from North America. A second species, S. orsmaelensis, is recognised from remains found in Europe. It is a close relative of Varanus, the genus that includes monitor lizards.

==Description== thumb|left|The skull of S. ensidens Saniwa measured . Like other varanid lizards, Saniwa had a long, pointed snout and nostrils placed farther back in the skull than most lizards and a tail that was almost twice as long as the body. Although similar in appearance to extant monitor lizards, Saniwa had many primitive traits, including teeth on its palate, a jugal bone beneath the eye that extended farther forward, and a suture between the frontal and parietal bones that was straight rather than curved.