Ophisaurus

Ophisaurus is a genus of superficially snake-like legless lizards in the subfamily Anguinae. Known as joint snakes, glass snakes, or glass lizards, they are so-named because their tails are easily broken; like many lizards, they have the ability to deter predation by dropping off part of the tail, which can break into several pieces, like glass. The tail remains mobile, distracting the predator, while the lizard becomes motionless, allowing eventual escape. This represents a significant loss of body mass; the tail can grow back, but may take years to do so. The new tail is usually smaller than the original.

Ophisaurus

NatalieK · 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
Also called
glass lizardPBDB
Sits inside
OphisauriniPBDB
Diet
insectivore, carnivorePBDB, for Anguidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Amniota

Time the record covers

At least 51 million years on record.

The record covers at least 51.1 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 0 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 188 occurrencesEocene — about 13 of 188 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 14 of 188 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 114 of 188 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 12 of 188 occurrencesPleistocene — about 34 of 188 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences55–53 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences53–51 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 3 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 4 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 2 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 2 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 2 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 2 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 4 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 4 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 9 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 9 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 8 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 26 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 19 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 13 occurrences11–9.5 Mya — about 13 occurrences9.5–7.6 Mya — about 7 occurrences7.6–5.7 Mya — about 8 occurrences5.7–3.8 Mya — about 7 occurrences3.8–1.9 Mya — about 10 occurrences1.9–0 Mya — about 31 occurrences51.1 Mya11.7 ka57 Mya0 Mya

188 occurrences of Ophisaurus on record, most of them in the Miocene. 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

188 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

34 formations

Upper 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 — 47.67°N, 8.93°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.17°N, 10.10°ELower Freshwater Molasse — 46.88°N, 7.11°ETudela — 42.06°N, 1.55°WTudela — 42.07°N, 1.61°WMost — 50.42°N, 13.36°EKingsdown — 37.20°N, 100.30°WLefkon — 41.17°N, 23.50°EBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WHeadon Hill — 50.72°N, 1.22°WHeadon Hill — 50.71°N, 1.40°WPerrière — 44.37°N, 1.73°EPerrière — 44.38°N, 1.43°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.48°N, 10.10°EWiesbaden — 50.04°N, 8.27°ELaa — 48.37°N, 16.35°EBorgloon — 50.85°N, 4.82°EIndusial Limestone — 46.26°N, 3.51°EOgallala — 39.08°N, 99.75°WValentine — 42.81°N, 100.05°WVille — 50.90°N, 6.45°EPerriere — 44.35°N, 1.73°EFort Thompson — 27.80°N, 82.80°WPawnee Creek — 40.90°N, 103.28°WStudienka — 48.20°N, 17.98°EWicomico — 29.42°N, 82.22°WPerfugas — 40.72°N, 9.10°EWood Mountain — 49.17°N, 105.99°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Ophisaurus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 10 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 122 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Ophisaurus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Ophisaurus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

2,663 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 159 sites for Ophisaurus, and this reads all 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

101 references

Each of the 188 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. 89 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 Ophisaurus

Credit
NatalieK
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
Ophisaurus sp. · UM-CRT-1

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

Everything alive alongside itOphisaurini through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Daudin 1803