Anguidae

Anguidae refers to a large and diverse family of lizards native to the Northern Hemisphere. It contains 9 genera and 89 extant species. Common characteristics of this group include a reduced supratemporal arch, striations on the medial faces of tooth crowns, osteoderms, and a lateral fold in the skin of most taxa. The group is divided into two living subfamilies, the legless Anguinae, which contains slow worms and glass lizards, among others, found across the Northern Hemisphere, and Gerrhonotinae, which contains the alligator lizards, native to North and Central America. The family Diploglossidae was also formerly included.

Anguidae

Uncredited · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
AnguioideaPBDB
Diet
insectivore, carnivorePBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Amniota

Time the record covers

At least 113 million years on record.

The record covers at least 113.2 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 119.57 Mya to 0 Mya.

Early Cretaceous — about 2 of 1123 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 76 of 1123 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 75 of 1123 occurrencesEocene — about 414 of 1123 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 80 of 1123 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 291 of 1123 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 57 of 1123 occurrencesPleistocene — about 116 of 1123 occurrences122–118 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences118–114 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences114–110 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences110–106 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences106–102 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences102–98 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences98–94 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences94–89 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences89–85 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences85–81 Mya — about 12 occurrences81–77 Mya — about 14 occurrences77–73 Mya — about 14 occurrences73–69 Mya — about 19 occurrences69–65 Mya — about 21 occurrences65–61 Mya — about 32 occurrences61–57 Mya — about 23 occurrences57–53 Mya — about 112 occurrences53–49 Mya — about 91 occurrences49–45 Mya — about 53 occurrences45–41 Mya — about 40 occurrences41–37 Mya — about 50 occurrences37–33 Mya — about 99 occurrences33–28 Mya — about 24 occurrences28–24 Mya — about 29 occurrences24–20 Mya — about 32 occurrences20–16 Mya — about 69 occurrences16–12 Mya — about 86 occurrences12–8.1 Mya — about 65 occurrences8.1–4.1 Mya — about 72 occurrences4.1–0 Mya — about 164 occurrences113.2 Mya11.7 ka122 Mya0 Mya

1,123 occurrences of Anguidae on record, most of them in the Eocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1,123 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

141 formations

Willwood — 44.30°N, 109.00°WWillwood — 44.58°N, 108.90°WWillwood — 44.44°N, 108.63°WWillwood — 44.49°N, 108.54°WWillwood — 44.53°N, 108.79°WWillwood — 44.65°N, 108.54°WWillwood — 44.59°N, 108.41°WWillwood — 44.65°N, 108.72°WWillwood — 44.65°N, 108.90°WWillwood — 44.42°N, 108.74°WWillwood — 44.52°N, 108.65°WWillwood — 44.66°N, 108.79°WWillwood — 43.92°N, 108.66°WWillwood — 44.28°N, 108.58°WWillwood — 44.30°N, 108.20°WWillwood — 44.85°N, 109.17°WWillwood — 44.30°N, 108.07°WWillwood — 43.95°N, 107.57°WWillwood — 44.50°N, 108.00°WWillwood — 45.00°N, 109.05°WWillwood — 44.00°N, 108.00°WWillwood — 44.10°N, 108.20°WWillwood — 44.88°N, 108.78°WWasatch — 42.37°N, 108.91°WWasatch — 41.80°N, 110.70°WWasatch — 41.70°N, 109.00°WWasatch — 42.72°N, 110.10°WWasatch — 44.50°N, 108.00°WWasatch — 40.60°N, 108.10°WWasatch — 44.00°N, 106.60°WFort Union — 41.30°N, 107.74°WFort Union — 45.80°N, 109.80°WFort Union — 44.91°N, 108.93°WFort Union — 44.72°N, 108.62°WFort Union — 44.72°N, 108.38°WFort Union — 44.66°N, 108.30°WFort Union — 43.85°N, 108.35°WFort Union — 44.30°N, 109.00°WFort Union — 46.05°N, 104.48°WFort Union — 46.90°N, 101.50°WFort Union — 47.60°N, 107.00°WFort Union — 42.29°N, 108.18°WBridger — 42.37°N, 108.91°WBridger — 42.42°N, 109.35°WBridger — 42.70°N, 110.10°WBridger — 41.80°N, 110.70°WBridger — 41.20°N, 110.50°WBridger — 41.04°N, 110.23°WBridger — 41.24°N, 109.70°WBridger — 41.27°N, 110.34°WBridger — 41.50°N, 110.60°WBridger — 41.37°N, 109.82°WBridger — 41.70°N, 109.00°WChadron — 46.10°N, 103.30°WChadron — 42.40°N, 103.80°WChadron — 42.80°N, 103.40°WChadron — 45.47°N, 112.62°WChadron — 41.96°N, 104.38°WChadron — 42.00°N, 104.20°WChadron — 42.67°N, 105.31°WChadron — 43.00°N, 104.50°WChadron — 42.97°N, 105.50°WChadron — 43.00°N, 104.23°WChadron — 42.80°N, 103.10°WChadron — 42.69°N, 103.42°WChadron — 45.90°N, 112.25°WChadron — 43.20°N, 107.10°WFriars — 32.90°N, 117.10°WUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.15°N, 9.88°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.44°N, 11.04°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.66°N, 10.23°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.63°N, 11.80°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.57°N, 12.00°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.50°N, 11.09°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.60°N, 11.08°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.09°N, 10.03°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 47.67°N, 8.93°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.17°N, 10.10°EBrule — 42.62°N, 105.25°WBrule — 42.90°N, 105.38°WBrule — 40.95°N, 103.38°WBrule — 40.83°N, 104.00°WBrule — 42.78°N, 103.88°WBrule — 41.80°N, 103.80°WBrule — 42.86°N, 103.91°WBrule — 42.76°N, 105.38°WBrule — 42.40°N, 103.80°WBrule — 42.90°N, 105.20°WBrule — 45.62°N, 103.27°WWind River — 43.13°N, 104.07°WWind River — 43.20°N, 108.20°WWind River — 43.20°N, 107.10°WWind River — 43.23°N, 107.34°WWind River — 43.73°N, 107.76°WLance — 43.12°N, 104.64°WLance — 41.57°N, 108.67°WLance — 43.18°N, 104.53°WLance — 43.15°N, 104.57°WLance — 43.13°N, 104.49°WLance — 43.24°N, 104.29°WMost — 50.42°N, 13.36°EHuerfano — 37.80°N, 105.10°WHuerfano — 37.80°N, 105.20°WNacimiento — 35.70°N, 107.00°WNacimiento — 36.57°N, 107.97°WNacimiento — 36.30°N, 108.20°WNacimiento — 36.35°N, 108.02°WNacimiento — 36.27°N, 107.76°WOldman — 49.10°N, 110.94°WOldman — 49.08°N, 110.84°WOldman — 49.08°N, 110.68°WOldman — 49.16°N, 110.72°WOldman — 50.70°N, 111.50°WPerrière — 44.37°N, 1.73°EPerrière — 44.38°N, 1.43°EPerrière — 44.35°N, 1.73°EHell Creek — 47.80°N, 106.10°WHell Creek — 47.55°N, 107.13°WHell Creek — 47.57°N, 107.10°WHell Creek — 47.52°N, 106.40°WHell Creek — 47.60°N, 106.27°WHell Creek — 45.50°N, 103.10°WGreen River — 40.20°N, 109.90°WGreen River — 41.80°N, 110.70°WGreen River — 41.20°N, 110.50°WGreen River — 42.70°N, 110.10°WSan Jose — 36.50°N, 107.00°WSan Jose — 36.19°N, 107.09°WSan Jose — 36.37°N, 107.00°WWhite River — 43.20°N, 108.20°WWhite River — 43.20°N, 107.10°WArikaree — 43.20°N, 108.20°WArikaree — 43.20°N, 107.10°WLefkon — 41.17°N, 23.50°EAguja — 29.32°N, 103.52°WAguja — 29.10°N, 103.17°WAguja — 29.30°N, 103.57°WTienen — 50.82°N, 5.10°Efacies à Congeria — 45.05°N, 7.93°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Anguidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 117 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 481 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Anguidae and its relatives

Eocene

Where Anguidae and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

3,492 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 722 sites for Anguidae, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

306 references

Each of the 1,123 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 294 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Anguidae

Credit
nobody named on the record
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
?Anguidae indet. · UP:Villeveyrac:UP.VIL.2006.11

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAnguioidea through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Gray 1825