Pachyophiidae
Encyclopedia
Pachyophiidae is an extinct family
of snake
s which lived during the Cenomanian
stage of the Late Cretaceous
. The family was erected in 1923 by F. Nopcsa as "Pachyophiidae", which was corrected to the current name Pachyophiidae in 1999 by M. Lee et al.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s which lived during the Cenomanian
Cenomanian
The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous series. An age is a unit of geochronology: it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the stratigraphic column deposited during the corresponding...
stage of the Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
. The family was erected in 1923 by F. Nopcsa as "Pachyophiidae", which was corrected to the current name Pachyophiidae in 1999 by M. Lee et al.
Taxonomy
- Pachyophiidae
- HaasiophisHaasiophisHaasiophis, consisting of the sole species Haasiophis terrasanctus, is an extinct genus of snakes with hind limbs. It is one of three genera of Cenomanian snakes known to have possessed hindlimbs.-Etymology:...
- Haasiophis terrasanctus
- Mesophis
- Mesophis nopcsai
- Pachyophis
- Pachyophis woodwardi
- PachyrhachisPachyrhachisPachyrhachis is an extinct genus of snake with well developed hind legs known from fossils discovered Ein Yabrud, near Ramallah, in the central West Bank. It is one of three genera of Cenomanian snakes with hindlimbs. Many of today's modern pythons and boas still have small bone spurs, where limbs...
- Pachyrhachis problematicus
- Simoliophis
- Simoliophis libycus
- Haasiophis