Lepidosauria

The Lepidosauria is a superorder of reptiles, containing the orders Squamata and Rhynchocephalia. Squamata, comprising lizards and snakes, contains over 9,000 species, making it by far the most species-rich and diverse order of non-avian reptiles in the present day. Rhynchocephalia was a formerly widespread and diverse group of reptiles in the Mesozoic Era. However, it is represented by only one living species: the tuatara, a superficially lizard-like reptile native to New Zealand.

Lepidosauria

Sid Mosdell safaritravelplus Kylez315 LiquidGhoul Patricia Guillory · CC BY 2.0 · 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
Also called
lepidosaurPBDB
Sits inside
LepidosauromorphaPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Amniota

Time the record covers

At least 248 million years on record.

The record covers at least 248.6 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 251.902 Mya to 0 Mya.

Permian — about 0 of 371 occurrencesEarly Triassic — about 5 of 371 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 4 of 371 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 133 of 371 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 49 of 371 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 10 of 371 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 87 of 371 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 33 of 371 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 28 of 371 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 3 of 371 occurrencesEocene — about 2 of 371 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 0 of 371 occurrencesMiocene — about 2 of 371 occurrencesPliocene — about 1 of 371 occurrencesPleistocene — about 3 of 371 occurrences257–248 Mya — about 4 occurrences248–240 Mya — about 3 occurrences240–231 Mya — about 40 occurrences231–223 Mya — about 35 occurrences223–214 Mya — about 17 occurrences214–206 Mya — about 20 occurrences206–197 Mya — about 40 occurrences197–188 Mya — about 17 occurrences188–180 Mya — about 13 occurrences180–171 Mya — about 3 occurrences171–163 Mya — about 9 occurrences163–154 Mya — about 2 occurrences154–146 Mya — about 69 occurrences146–137 Mya — about 27 occurrences137–128 Mya — about 2 occurrences128–120 Mya — about 2 occurrences120–111 Mya — about 8 occurrences111–103 Mya — about 9 occurrences103–94 Mya — about 2 occurrences94–86 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences86–77 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences77–69 Mya — about 16 occurrences69–60 Mya — about 12 occurrences60–51 Mya — about 2 occurrences43–34 Mya — about 2 occurrences34–26 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences26–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–8.6 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences8.6–0 Mya — about 15 occurrences248.6 Mya11.7 ka257 Mya0 Mya

371 occurrences of Lepidosauria on record, most of them in the Late Triassic. 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

371 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

74 formations

Morrison — 40.42°N, 109.21°WMorrison — 41.89°N, 106.00°WMorrison — 39.24°N, 109.00°WMorrison — 38.58°N, 108.40°WMorrison — 38.73°N, 111.27°WMorrison — 38.54°N, 105.19°WMorrison — 40.44°N, 109.32°WMorrison — 38.81°N, 108.32°WMorrison — 38.32°N, 108.83°WMorrison — 39.17°N, 108.77°WMorrison — 44.49°N, 107.88°WMorrison — 40.47°N, 109.18°WMorrison — 41.88°N, 106.11°WMorrison — 41.98°N, 106.15°WMorrison — 39.15°N, 108.77°WMorrison — 44.46°N, 104.73°WMorrison — 39.01°N, 111.02°WMorrison — 40.30°N, 108.57°WHell Creek — 45.95°N, 103.96°WHell Creek — 46.10°N, 103.30°WHell Creek — 45.98°N, 103.75°WHell Creek — 46.38°N, 103.96°WHell Creek — 46.33°N, 103.90°WHell Creek — 46.36°N, 103.90°WHell Creek — 45.94°N, 103.95°WHell Creek — 47.61°N, 106.90°WLa Boca — 26.60°N, 99.52°WTecovas — 33.43°N, 101.16°WTecovas — 35.38°N, 102.16°WSolnhofen — 48.92°N, 11.12°ESolnhofen — 48.90°N, 11.19°ESolnhofen — 48.93°N, 11.98°ESolnhofen — 48.88°N, 10.95°EKlettgau — 47.50°N, 8.02°EKlettgau — 47.71°N, 8.45°EKlettgau — 47.71°N, 8.45°EChinle — 34.44°N, 109.46°WChinle — 36.33°N, 106.47°WChinle — 35.84°N, 111.25°WChinle — 35.65°N, 111.12°WChinle — 35.05°N, 109.84°WChinle — 34.68°N, 109.58°WChinle — 35.03°N, 109.83°WMcCoy Brook — 45.40°N, 64.22°WLulworth — 50.60°N, 1.97°WMagnesian Conglomerate — 51.47°N, 2.62°WCaturrita — 29.56°S, 53.45°WCaturrita — 29.69°S, 52.85°WCandeleros — 39.62°S, 69.35°WCandeleros — 39.71°S, 68.60°WCandeleros — 39.63°S, 68.70°WMörnsheim — 48.86°N, 10.99°EMörnsheim — 48.79°N, 10.90°EFleming Fjord — 71.48°N, 22.68°WKsar Metlili — 32.70°N, 3.22°WLos Alamitos — 41.95°S, 66.33°WTorleite — 49.11°N, 11.90°ETorleite — 48.91°N, 11.14°EIsalo IIIb — 16.55°S, 46.98°ETlayúa — 18.59°N, 97.90°WKayenta — 35.76°N, 111.08°WKayenta — 35.88°N, 111.41°WForest Marble — 51.87°N, 1.27°WForest Marble — 50.71°N, 2.78°WForest Marble — 50.68°N, 2.66°WVinita — 37.46°N, 77.67°WKota — 19.27°N, 79.52°EPainten — 48.92°N, 11.58°EPainten — 49.02°N, 11.98°EPainten — 49.01°N, 11.83°E

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The named rock units Lepidosauria has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 50 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 118 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Lepidosauria and its relatives

Late Triassic

Where Lepidosauria and its relatives were recorded in the Late Triassic.

Found in the same rock

1,786 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 256 sites for Lepidosauria, 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

185 references

Each of the 371 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. 173 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 content1

Picture of Lepidosauria

Credit
Sid Mosdell safaritravelplus Kylez315 LiquidGhoul Patricia Guillory
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

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 itLepidosauromorpha through timeFormations of the Late TriassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Haeckel 1866)