Parviraptor is a genus of squamate containing one species, Parviraptor estesi, from the Late Jurassic (Tithonian) or Early Cretaceous (Berriasian) Purbeck Limestone Formation of Dorset, England.[1] A second species, Parviraptor gilmorei, was described from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of Western North America;[2] it was present in stratigraphic zone 4.[3] However, the second species was subsequently transferred to a separate genus Diablophis. An indeterminate species is known from the Bathonian aged Kirtlington Mammal Bed (Kilmaluag Formation, Scotland).
The shape, length, and body form of Parviraptor is not currently known. Parviraptor was initially described by Susan E. Evans in 1994, based on disarticulated but associated remains including bones of the skull and vertebrae. It was estimated to be about 150mm in snout-vent length and assigned to the Anguimorpha.[4] Parviraptor was suggested by Caldwell et al. 2015 to be a stem-snake (Ophidia) based on the morphology of its maxilla, and on the claim that the other skeletal remains attributed to the species were not actually attributable to it. However, Susan E. Evans, the original describer of the genus, has stated that subsequent study of the other remains attributed to the genus indicates that they can confidently assigned to Parviraptor, and are dissimilar to the skeletons of snakes, making its affinity to them doubtful.[5]
Cladogram based in the phylogenetic analysis by Caldwell et al. (2015):