Rhineuridae
Rhineurids | |
---|---|
Rhineura floridana | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Clade: | Amphisbaenia |
Family: | Rhineuridae Vanzolini, 1951 |
Genera
| |
†Archaerhineura |
Rhineuridae is a family[1] of amphisbaenians (commonly called worm lizards) that includes one living genus and species, Rhineura floridana,[2] as well as many extinct species belonging to both Rhineura and several extinct genera. The living R. floridana is found only in Georgia and Florida,[3] but extinct species ranged across North America, some occurring as far west as Oregon. The family has a fossil record stretching back 60 million years to the Paleocene[4] and was most diverse in the continental interior during the Eocene and Oligocene.[5]
Fossil record
The fossil record of the Rhineuridae extends back almost to the
In 2007, paleontologist Daniel Hembree reviewed all North American fossil amphisbaenians and found every species to belong to Rhineuridae. He also showed that many extinct rhineurids cannot be justified as their own species and are instead synonyms of earlier named species, reducing the number of valid species from twenty-two to nine. For example, Jepsibaena minor, Rhineura amblyceps, R. attenuatus R. minutus, and R. wilsoni are sometimes considered synonyms of Protorhineura hatchetri. Since the late nineteenth century, paleontologists had been naming new species of extinct North American amphisbaenians on the basis of single fragmentary specimens that often preserved too few anatomical features to support their status as distinct species. By synonymizing many of these species, Hembree showed that rhineurid diversity in North America was lower than once thought.[5]
Relationships
Hebree's 2007 review of North American amphisbaenians also included a
Amphisbaenia |
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References
- ^ "Rhineuridae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
- ^ "Rhineura". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
- ^ "Rhineura floridana". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
- ISBN 0-12-178560-2.
- ^ a b c Hembree, D.I. (2007). "Phylogenetic revision of Rhineuridae (Reptilia: Squamata: Amphisbaenia) from the Eocene to Miocene of North America". The University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions. 15: 1–20.
- ^ Sullivan, Robert M. "A new middle Paleocene (Torrejonian) rhineurid amphisbaenian, Plesiorhineura tsentasi new genus, new species, from the San Juan Basin, New Mexico." Journal of Paleontology (1985): 1481-1485.
- ^ Taylor, Edward Harrison. "Concerning Oligocene amphisbaenid reptiles." (1951).
- ^ Berman, David S. "A new amphisbaenian (Reptilia: Amphisbaenia) from the Oligocene-Miocene John Day formation, Oregon." Journal of Paleontology (1976): 165-174.
- S2CID 10720803.