Paliguana

Paliguana
Temporal range: Earliest Triassic 252 Ma
Holotype skull
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Lepidosauromorpha
Family: †Paliguanidae
Genus: †Paliguana
Broom 1903
Type species
†Paliguana whitei
Broom 1903
Life restoration

Paliguana is an extinct genus of lizard-like lepidosauromorph reptile. It is known from a single somewhat poorly preserved skull around 3 centimetres (1.2 in) in length from the earliest Triassic Katberg Formation (Beaufort Group) in the upper Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of South Africa. It is currently the earliest known lepidosauromorph.

Cladogram after Ford et al., 2021:

Lepidosauromorpha


References

  1. ↑ Ford, David P.; Evans, Susan E.; Choiniere, Jonah N.; Fernandez, Vincent; Benson, Roger B. J. (2021-08-25). "A reassessment of the enigmatic diapsid Paliguana whitei and the early history of Lepidosauromorpha". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 288 (1957) 20211084. doi:10.1098/rspb.2021.1084. PMC 8385343. PMID 34428965.