Champsosaurus is an extinct genus of crocodile-like choristodere reptile, known from the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene periods of North America and Europe (Campanian-Paleocene). The name Champsosaurus is thought to come from champsai, (χαμψαι) said in an Ancient Greek source to be an Egyptian word for "crocodiles", and sauros, (σαύρος) Greek for "lizard". The morphology of Champsosaurus resembles that of gharials, with a long, elongated snout. It was native to freshwater environments where it likely preyed on fish, similar to living gharials.
Neodiapsida is a clade, or major branch, of the reptilian family tree, typically defined as including all diapsids apart from some early primitive types known as the araeoscelidians. Modern reptiles and birds belong to the neodiapsid subclade Sauria.
Edaphosaurus is a genus of extinct edaphosaurid synapsids that lived in what is now North America and Europe around 303.4 to 272.5 million years ago, during the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian. American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope first described Edaphosaurus in 1882, naming it for the "dental pavement" on both the upper and lower jaws, from the Greek edaphos έδαφος and σαῦρος ("lizard").
Protorosaurus is an extinct genus of reptile. Members of the genus lived during the late Permian period in what is now Germany and Great Britain. Once believed to have been an ancestor to lizards, Protorosaurus is now known to be one of the oldest and most primitive members of Archosauromorpha, the group that would eventually lead to archosaurs such as crocodilians and dinosaurs.
Petrolacosaurus is an extinct genus of diapsid reptile from the late Carboniferous period. It was a small, 40-centimetre (16 in) long reptile, and one of the earliest known reptile with two temporal fenestrae. This means that it was at the base of Diapsida, the largest and most successful radiation of reptiles that would eventually include all modern reptile groups, as well as dinosaurs and other famous extinct reptiles such as plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and pterosaurs. However, Petrolacosaurus itself was part of Araeoscelida, a short-lived early branch of the diapsid family tree which went extinct in the mid-Permian.
Coelurosauravus is an extinct genus of gliding reptile, known from the Late Permian of Madagascar. Like other members of the family Weigeltisauridae, members of this genus possessed long, rod-like ossifications projecting outwards from the body. These bony rods were not extensions of the ribs but were instead a feature unique to weigeltisaurids. It is believed that during life, these structures formed folding wings used for gliding flight, similar to living gliding Draco lizards.
Avicephala is an extinct, potentially polyphyletic grouping of diapsid reptiles that lived during the Late Permian and Triassic periods characterised by superficially bird-like skulls and arboreal lifestyles. As a clade, Avicephala is defined as including the gliding weigeltisaurids and the arboreal drepanosaurs to the exclusion of other major diapsid groups. This relationship is not recovered in the majority of phylogenetic analyses of early diapsids and so Avicephala is typically regarded as an unnatural grouping. However, the clade was recovered again in 2021 in a redescription of Weigeltisaurus, raising the possibility that the clade may be valid after all.
Claudiosaurus is an extinct genus of diapsid reptiles from the Permian Sakamena Formation of the Morondava Basin, Madagascar. The pattern of the vertebrate, girle, and limbs indicates that Claudiosaurus and Thadeosaurus share a common ancestor.
Hovasaurus is an extinct genus of basal diapsid reptile. It lived in what is now Madagascar during the Late Permian and Early Triassic, being a survivor of the Permian–Triassic extinction event and the paleontologically youngest member of the Tangasauridae. Fossils have been found in the Permian Lower and Triassic Middle Sakamena Formations of the Sakamena Group, where it is amongst the commonest fossils. Its morphology suggests an aquatic ecology.
Drepanosaurs are a group of extinct reptiles that lived between the Carnian and Rhaetian stages of the late Triassic Period, approximately between 230 and 210 million years ago. The various species of drepanosaurid were characterized by specialized grasping limbs and often prehensile tails, adaptions for arboreal (tree-dwelling) and fossorial (digging) lifestyles, with some having also been suggested to be aquatic. Fossils of drepanosaurs have been found in Arizona, New Mexico, New Jersey, Utah, England, and northern Italy. The name is taken from the family's namesake genus Drepanosaurus, which means "sickle lizard," a reference to their strongly curved claws.
Sakamena is a village near Betroka in the region of Anosy in Madagascar.
Mecistotrachelos is an extinct genus of gliding reptile believed to be an archosauromorph, distantly related to crocodylians and dinosaurs. The type and only known species is M. apeoros. This specific name translates to "soaring longest neck", in reference to its gliding habits and long neck. This superficially lizard-like animal was able to spread its lengthened ribs and glide on wing-like membranes. Mecistotrachelos had a much longer neck than other gliding reptiles of the Triassic such as Icarosaurus and Kuehneosaurus. It was probably an arboreal insectivore.
Rautiania is an extinct genus of gliding neodiapsid reptiles belonging to the family Weigeltisauridae. Isolated fossil remains of Rautiania are known from the Late Permian of Russia. The genus is known from two species, Rautiania alexandri and Rautiania minichi, which differ in aspects of their maxilla and parietal bones. Certain Rautiania fossils have helped to reveal certain aspects of weigeltisaurid anatomy and lifestyle which had long alluded paleontologists, such as the component bones of the "crest" at the back of the head, and the large amount of adaptations towards life in the canopies of forests.
Lazarussuchus is an extinct genus of amphibious reptile, known from the Cenozoic of Europe. It is the youngest known member of Choristodera, an extinct order of aquatic reptiles that first appeared in the Middle Jurassic. Fossils have been found in Late Paleocene, Late Oligocene, Early Miocene and Late Miocene deposits in France, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Two species have been named: the type species L. inexpectatus ("unexpected") from the late Oligocene of France. and L. dvoraki from the early Miocene of the Czech Republic. It was not a large animal; the skull of L. inexpectatus was only about 4.53 centimeters long (1.78 in), with the total preserved body and tail length being just over 30 centimetres. A complete specimen of Lazarussuchus with preserved soft tissue was found from the Late Paleocene of France, but has not been assigned to a species.
Gephyrosaurus is a genus of early rhynchocephalian first described and named in 1980 by Susan E. Evans. They are distantly related to the extant Sphenodon with which they shared a number of skeletal features including a large tooth row along the side of the palatine bone and posterior process of the dentary bone. The type species, G. bridensis, lived during Early Jurassic in Wales, UK. Whiteside & Duffin (2017) described the second species, G. evansae, known from a partial maxilla recovered from Late Triassic (Rhaetian) fissure fills in Carboniferous Limestone in Somerset. They and other potential gephyrosaurids are the only rhynchocephalians to lie outside Sphenodontia in modern definitions of the group, and have been found to be more closely related to squamates in some phylogenetic analyses.
Weigeltisauridae is a family of gliding neodiapsid reptiles that lived during the Late Permian, between 259.51 and 251.9 million years ago. Fossils of weigeltisaurids have been found in Madagascar, Germany, Great Britain, and Russia. A possible weigeltisaurid, Wapitisaurus, been found in Early Triassic strata in North America, but its poor preservation makes referral to the group questionable. They are characterized by long, hollow rod-shaped bones extending from the torso that probably supported wing-like membranes. Similar membranes are also found in several other extinct reptiles such as kuehneosaurids and Mecistotrachelos, as well as living gliding lizards, although each group evolved these structures independently.
The Marl Slate Formation is a geological formation in England. Despite its name, it is mostly dolomite rock. The Marl Slate Formation was formed about 273 to 259 million years ago, during the Guadalupian and Lopingian epochs of the late Permian period of the Earth's geological history. This formation is part of the Zechstein Group of rocks, and is equivalent to the Kupferschiefer of Germany. The Marl Slate Formation contains fossils including the conodont Mesogondolella britannica and the dorypterid fishes Dorypterus and Lekanichthys, as well as the gliding reptile Weigeltisaurus and terrestrial reptile Protorosaurus The Marl Slate Formation outcrops in County Durham and Yorkshire in north-east England.
Glaurung is an extinct genus of weigeltisaurid reptile from the Upper Permian of Germany. The only known species is Glaurung schneideri. Originally considered a specimen of Coelurosauravus, a later study named it as a new genus after noting that it had several unique characteristics relative to other weigeltisaurids. These characteristics included a low skull, small eyes, smooth parietal and squamosal bones, and spiny jugal bones.
Boreopricea is an extinct genus of archosauromorph reptile from the Early Triassic of arctic Russia. It is known from a fairly complete skeleton discovered in a borehole on Kolguyev Island, though damage to the specimen and loss of certain bones has complicated study of the genus. Boreopricea shared many similarities with various other archosauromorphs, making its classification controversial. Various studies have considered it a close relative of Prolacerta, tanystropheids, both, or neither. Boreopricea is unique among early archosauromorphs due to possessing contact between the jugal and squamosal bones at the rear half of the skull.
Parasaurus is a genus of pareiasaur known from fossils collected in the Kupferschiefer in Germany, dating to the Late Permian (Wuchiapingian). The type species, Parasaurus geinitzi, described by Hermann von Meyer in 1857, was the first pareiasaur ever described. The seven known specimens were redescribed in 2008.
