Dolichosauridae

Dolichosaurus was a small marine squamate at about 0.5 to 1 meter in total length. Coniasaurus was similarly sized at about 0.5 meters in length. They were elongated (especially apparent in the neck) marine lizards with reduced limbs and small, thin heads. Dolichosaurs may have occupied a niche similar to the earlier nothosaurs and modern sea snakes, in using their thin heads to feed in crevices and narrow spaces along coral reefs and rocky shores. The degree to which the limbs were reduced suggest that the dolichosaurs would have been unable to generate any significant movement on land, and they thus likely spent most of their time underwater. == History of discovery ==

Both of the genera routinely referred to the Dolichosauridae, Dolichosaurus and Coniasaurus, were described by Richard Owen in 1850 based on specimens of Cenomanian age collected from the Lower Chalk of southeastern England. The unusually large number of dorsal and cervical vertebrae present in Dolichosaurus prompted it to be named as a new genus and Coniasaurus could be distinguished from known Cretaceous lizards by dental characteristics. restudied the specimens discovered by Owen and described several new specimens of Coniasaurus and Dolichosaurus. == Classification ==

Many authors have suggested the dolichosaurs to be a paraphyletic group. The difficulties in establishing more certain relationships not only between the Dolichosauridae and the Mosasauroidea, but also between Dolichosaurus and Coniasaurus, arise from the nature of the fossil remains referred to the genera. With Coniasaurus largely lacking postcranial material and Dolichosaurus largely lacking cranial material, they are difficult to compare with each other. placing the Dolichosauridae as a sister group to modern snakes and their closest ancestors. Other authors have disagreed with this hypothesis, instead placing dolichosaurs at the base of Mosasauria, with Mosasauria unrelated to snakes. Cladogram following Augusta et al. (2022): }}}}}} }}}}}}}} == References ==