Diablophis
Diablophis is a genus of Late Jurassic stem-snake from the Morrison Formation of North America. The type and only species, D. gilmorei was once thought to be a species of Parviraptor[2] but is now classified as its own genus.[1] The animal is known from multiple specimens, the holotype being LACM 4684/140572, which consists of a broken right mandible, broken right maxilla and broken axis vertebrae. A number of other specimens have also been attributed to Diablophis, including LACM 4684/140572 and LACM 5572/120732, the specimens previously attributed to Parviraptor and LACM 4684/120472.[1]
| Diablophis Temporal range: Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian), | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Clade: | Ophidia |
| Genus: | †Diablophis Caldwell et al., 2015[1] |
| Type species | |
| †Diablophis gilmorei (Evans, 1996) | |
| Synonyms | |
Phylogeny
Diablophis has been recovered as a basal snake, though this placement is disputed. The cladogram from figure 4b in Caldwell et al.'s 2015 study is replicated below.[1]
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References
- Caldwell, M.W.; Nydam, R.L.; Palci, A; Apesteguía, S (2015). "The oldest known snakes from the Middle Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous provide insights on snake evolution". Nature Communications. 6: 5996. doi:10.1038/ncomms6996.
- Evans, S.E. (1996). "Parviraptor (Squamata: Anguimorpha) and other lizards from the Morrison Formation at Fruita, Colorado". The Continental Jurassic. 60: 243–248.