aplomado Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 Are Mosasaurs considered lizards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 I would say no...they share the same order but are from different clades/suborders. 4 "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 They are usually considered squamates but placement is highly debated and new emerging evidence shows a more distant relationship, while some point to other (mainly morphological) evidence to show closer relationships (more towards snakes really) . In other words, not lizards, possibly closely related but check in a few years and this may change. 1 “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 A few more tidbits on this very interesting subject ... ...from Integrated Analyses Resolve Conflicts over Squamate Reptile Phylogeny and Reveal Unexpected Placements for Fossil Taxa... ...and a living reptile cladogram... ...from Natural History Magazine. Gotta love Herpetology! 2 "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macrophyseter Posted August 26, 2017 Share Posted August 26, 2017 I was about to say technically no, but actually they could be lizards. Most people just recognize mosasaurs up to as a squamate, which also includes snakes, so that isnt enough to classify it as a lizard. But mosas are actually also in the clade Platynota which IS composed of only lizards if im correct, so i guess mosasaurs can be defined as true lizards. But as far as I know, Platynota used to be used to also define snakes but the snakes were moved to their own clades. I might be wrong, so dont take my word too seriously. If you're a fossil nut from Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, or Torrance, feel free to shoot me a PM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 26, 2017 Share Posted August 26, 2017 caldj.1096-3642_1999.tb00587.x.pdf Might also be in Fruitbat's Library ,haven't checked 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 26, 2017 Share Posted August 26, 2017 Varadentmosa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 26, 2017 Share Posted August 26, 2017 rieppel2000.pdf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 26, 2017 Share Posted August 26, 2017 ALBLA (NB:large file,54.6 Mb) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 26, 2017 Share Posted August 26, 2017 cladistGauth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 26, 2017 Share Posted August 26, 2017 thesjimhui About 8,5 Mb Although what follows suggests otherwise,the brunt of the thesis consists of cladograms and character matrices Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 On 25/08/2017 at 7:49 PM, PFOOLEY said: A few more tidbits on this very interesting subject ... Since this clearly shows that either Lizards are monophyletic and snakes are mosasaurs are also subsets of lizards. Or Lizards are paraphyletic and it doesn't have a clear definition anyway and you could just as easily include mosasaurs anyway. So yes. I would say that Mosasaurs are definitely just overgrown marine lizards. I think it's just easier to just say that Squamata = Lizards. So I would consider Mosasaurs a subset of lizards. Otherwise it just devolves into arbitrary nonsense of saying this belongs in this group and that one doesn't. If one considers legless lizards to be actual lizards, I don't think it makes sense to say that Mosasaurs aren't actually lizards. Aquatic snakes are also still called snakes even though they have flattened tails that are basically tail fins. It's also easier to explain to people who think mosasaurs are dinosaurs. Just saying they are big water lizards is nice and clear to understand for people who aren't very well versed in taxonomy. So yea, large lizards with paddles and fins imo. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macrophyseter Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 Seeing this, I've just thought, you know those people who think that lizard aliens took over the world? Well I guess they were partially right, actual lizards did once take over the aquatic world. If you're a fossil nut from Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, or Torrance, feel free to shoot me a PM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 4 minutes ago, Macrophyseter said: mosasaurs are the only dominant mesozoic marine reptile to not be closely related to dinosaurs What about Ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macrophyseter Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 Wait, scratch that. I completely forgot that ichthyosaurs arnt archosauromorphs . So I guess mosasaurs and ichthyosaurs, unless you dont count archosauromorpha being close enough. Sorry for any possible misleading If you're a fossil nut from Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, or Torrance, feel free to shoot me a PM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creaturewrangler Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 Yes. All squamates are lizards, which includes snakes and mosasaurs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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