Ardeosauridae Explained

Ardeosauridae is an extinct family of lizards known from the Late Jurassic of Germany and North America^[1] and Early Cretaceous of Mongolia, with other potential species elsewhere from Europe and Asia over the same time period.^[2]

The position of this family is debated; they are often recovered as gekkonomorphs,^[3] but other studies have found them to be basal squamates, whereas others have found them to be the basalmost members of the Scincoidea or Iguania.^{[4] [5]}

The following genera are known:^{[6] [7]}

• †Ardeosaurus Meyer, 1855
• †Gurvelus Alifanov, 2019
• †Limnoscansor Meyer et al. 2023
• †Helioscopos Meyer et al. 2023
• †?Schoenesmahl Conrad, 2018
• ? †Chometokadmon Costa, 1864
• ? †Palaeolacerta Cocude-Michel, 1961
• ? †Yabeinosaurus Endo and Shikama, 1942

Notes and References

1. Meyer . Dalton . Brownstein . Chase D. . Jenkins . Kelsey M. . Gauthier . Jacques A. . 2023-11-29 . A Morrison stem gekkotan reveals gecko evolution and Jurassic biogeography . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences . en . 290 . 2011 . 10.1098/rspb.2023.2284 . 0962-8452. free . 10685121 .
2. Alifanov . V. R. . May 20, 2019 . Lizards of the Families Eoxantidae, Ardeosauridae, Globauridae, and Paramacellodidae (Scincomorpha) from the Aptian–Albian of Mongolia . Paleontological Journal . 53 . 1 . 74–88 . 10.1134/s0031030119010039 . 0031-0301.
3. Simões . Tiago R. . Caldwell . Michael W. . Nydam . Randall L. . Jiménez-Huidobro . Paulina . 2016 . Osteology, phylogeny, and functional morphology of two Jurassic lizard species and the early evolution of scansoriality in geckoes . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 10.1111/zoj.12487 . 0024-4082.
4. Tałanda . Mateusz . 2018-03-25 . An exceptionally preserved Jurassic skink suggests lizard diversification preceded fragmentation of Pangaea . Palaeontology . 61 . 5 . 659–677 . 10.1111/pala.12358 . 0031-0239.
5. Bolet . Arnau . Stubbs . Thomas L . Herrera-Flores . Jorge A . Benton . Michael J . 2022-05-03 . Zhu . Min . Perry . George H . Zhu . Min . The Jurassic rise of squamates as supported by lepidosaur disparity and evolutionary rates . eLife . 11 . e66511 . 10.7554/eLife.66511 . 2050-084X. free . 9064307 .
6. Web site: IRMNG - Ardeosauridae Camp, 1923 †. 2023-08-27 . www.irmng.org.
7. Conrad . Jack L . 2017-12-18 . A new lizard (Squamata) was the last meal of Compsognathus (Theropoda: Dinosauria) and is a holotype in a holotype . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 183 . 3 . 584–634 . 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx055 . 0024-4082.